Basic concepts of hardware

Question 1

What is a special case for a computer case called?

Answer 1

Mods

Question 2

What is the function of the motherboard?

Answer 2

To connect peripherals and allow parts of the computer to communicate with each other

Question 3

What is a CPU and what does it do and where does it plug into

Answer 3

The Central Processing unit does all the processing, plugged into ZIF socket on motherboard

Question 4

Why does a CPU need a fan?

Answer 4

It gets hot when a computer is on and heat damages the CPU

Question 5

What brands manufacture CPU’s in computers?

Answer 5

Intel and AMD

Question 6

What brands manufacture CPU’s in tablets/smartphones?

Answer 6

Qualcomm, Apple and Arm

Question 7

What are the characteristics of RAM?

Answer 7

Volatile (loses info when no power), its where the CPU keeps instructions its working on, data transfer is quick as its electronic, expensive

Question 8

What is a DIMM?

Answer 8

Dual inline memory module

Question 9

How does a magnetic HDD work?

Answer 9

The drives are solid disks coated with a magnetic substance. They have a read-write head that can write patterns in the form of 0’s and 1’s or can read patterns from the the disk

Question 10

How are HDD’s becoming more efficient?

Answer 10

By improving the density of data on the surface of the disk

Question 11

What is optical storage?

Answer 11

Optical drives use discs that hold data by reflecting laser light in different ways to represent 0’s and 1’s

Question 12

What are the qualities of a ODD

Answer 12

Slower than HDD, limited storage capacity (700mb CD, 4,7-9gb DVD, 50gb Blu-ray)

Question 13

How does a SSD work?

Answer 13

By using electronic memory that retains its data when the power is off.

Question 14

What are the qualities of a SSD?

Answer 14

Expensive, small capacity

Question 15

What is the function of a peripheral?

Answer 15

Gives computer equipment needed to get input and output

Question 16

How can peripherals be connected?

Answer 16

USB, Firewire, VGA, RJ 45 (wired network)

Question 17

What is Firewire?

Answer 17

Created when USB wasn’t fast enough to transfer data from camera onto computer. Mostly found on Apple computers

Question 18

What is a modular design?

Answer 18

Assembled from variety of parts making maintenance and upgrades easier

Question 19

Why is the average keyboard called a QWERTY keyboard?

Answer 19

After the order of the keys in the first row of letters

Question 20

How does a trackpad work?

Answer 20

Responds to the electric conductivity of finger and moves pointer

Question 21

How does a scanner work?

Answer 21

Light and sensors move from one end to the other capturing the image of item which is converted into a picture by the computer

Question 22

What does OCR (optical character recognition software) do?

Answer 22

Takes a picture of a document and converts it into editable text

Question 23

How does a barcode scanner work?

Answer 23

By converting barcode image into ID codes

Question 24

What does a biometric scanner do?

Answer 24

Reads characteristics of people (fingerprints or iris)

Question 25

What are the types of input data?

Answer 25

Text, Images, sound and sensor data

Question 26

List two other methods of capturing text other than with a keyboard

Answer 26

Voice recognition and automated batch scanners

Question 27

List two ways data from sensory is used

Answer 27

Laptop screen brightness, shutting down devices when temperature becomes too high

Question 28

What are the types of output devices?

Answer 28

Monitor, data projectors, printers, speakers/headphones

Question 29

Why are there less varieties of output?

Answer 29

The limitations of the human senses

Question 30

List three VDU technologies

Answer 30

LED (light emitting diode), LCD (liquid crystal display) and CRT (cathode ray tube)

Question 31

How are monitors classified?

Answer 31

Size, resolution, response time, connection, contrast ratio and technology used

Question 32

Why are wide screen monitors useful?

Answer 32

Easy to view documents side by side

Question 33

Why is response time important?

Answer 33

It is the time it takes to change a pixels colour/value. Therefore a low response time is needed so graphics don’t blur of lag (ghost)

Question 34

What is a contrast ratio?

Answer 34

The measurement or ratio of the darkest black to the brightest white. Larger the ratio the better

Question 35

How does a laser printer work?

Answer 35

By melting toner onto the paper

Question 36

How does an inkjet printer work?

Answer 36

By spraying dots of ink onto paper

Question 37

How do dot-matrix printers work?

Answer 37

By striking pins onto paper through inked ribbons