Chapter 5 - Computer hardware

Question 1

What are the three parts of the CPU ?

Answer 1

1 - control unit
2 - Arithmetic logic unit
3 - Immediate access store

Question 2

What is the main role of the CPU ?

Answer 2

To process programs and data

Question 3

What does the CU do ?

Answer 3

• decides which instruction to carry out next
• fetches it from memory
• repeats the fetch-execute cycle

Question 4

What does the ALU do ?

Answer 4

• carries out maths equations

Question 5

What does the IAS do ?

Answer 5

• stores all programs and data while they are in use

Question 6

What are the 5 registers of the CPU ?

Answer 6

• program counter
• memory address register
• memory data register
• instruction register
• accumulator

Question 7

What does clock speed mean ?

Answer 7

The number of instructions the CPU can deal with per second

Question 8

What does the cache do ?

Answer 8

temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data

Question 9

What is a processor core ?

Answer 9

A core is a single processor

Question 10

Name 5 computer hardware devices :

Answer 10

• graphics digitiser
• speaker
• mouse
• 3D printer
• Hard disk drive

Question 11

Whats the purpose of a graphics digitiser ?

Answer 11

allows a user to hand draw images. Consists of a flat pad and a stylus

Question 12

Describe how HD storage media works

Answer 12

uses laser technology to store and retrieve data at high data transfer speed to and from optical disks.

Question 13

Describe the features of SSD storage:

Answer 13

• It’s flash memory
• usb memory sticks are a type of SSD
• plug and play devices

Question 14

Describe the features of RAM memory

Answer 14

• volatile
• read from or written to
• stores the programs that the user is currently using
• more RAM = faster processing speeds

Question 15

Describe the features of ROM :

Answer 15

• read from but not written to

- used to store BIOS