What is a computer? - Answers
| Label | Description |
| A | The motherboard. This piece of hardware is a printed circuit board, which allows all of the other components to be connected together so that they can communicate with each other as well as extra 'ports' - places you can plug something external into e.g. a printer or pen drive. USB ports are common types of port found in computers. |
| B | The mouse and keyboard. These pieces of hardware allow a user to make selections and enter data into the computer. |
| C | The Central Processing Unit (CPU). This piece of hardware is the brain of the computer. It does all of the calculations (or processing) and runs the programs. |
| D | The hard disk. Your programs have to be stored somewhere, even when the power is off. They are all stored here, in the hard drive. |
| E | These come in handy when you want to listen to music! |
| F | The sound card. If you want to listen to some digital music, such as an MP3 file, then you need to output the file to some speakers. You will need a good quality sound card to enable you to do this. |
| G | The CPU works very hard and can get hot. This fan sits right on top of the CPU and keeps it cool. |
| H | The RAM (Random Access Memory). Those programs that you are currently running are copied from the hard drive to the RAM. The CPU then fetches and executes the instructions in each program in RAM to make the programs 'run'. If you turn the power off, all of the contents in RAM are wiped away, although they are all still safely stored in the hard drive. The more RAM a computer has, the more programs you can run efficiently on your computer. That's why buying more RAM for your computer is usually a good idea. RAM is also known as a 'Read-Write' piece of hardware because you can both read from it and write to it. |
| I | A graphics card. You need a graphics card to send signals from your CPU to the monitor so you can actually see things! |
| J | A network card. Most computers are connected to a network, for example, the Internet. To do this, you must have a network card in your computer. |
| K | The case. You need to keep the motherboard and all of the other components safe. You also might need to attach other things to the motherboard, such as a DVD drive. The computer case provides a structure and a protective environment for all of the hardware. |
| L | Monitor (also called a VDU - Visual Display Unit). You need this to see the signals as they come out of the graphics card. |
| M |
The ROM (Read Only Memory). This is an electronic chip that contains the instructions a computer needs to 'boot up', the term used to describe when you first press the power switch to turn your computer on. It checks that your computer is okay and then loads up the OS from the hard drive to the RAM and starts running it. This chip is known as 'Read only' because you can never change the contents of it. |
Extension task
1) A list of hardware you might connect to a computer might include: CD / DVD player, webcam, graphics tablet, modem, printer, back-up device (an external hard drive), a scanner, TV card, wireless modem / router amongst other items.
2) Comparing a laptop to a desktop computer: Similar - both have motherboards, keyboards, monitors, RAM, ROM, CPU, hard drives, a case, ports for connections. Differences: A laptop has a tracker pad as opposed to a mouse, the graphics, sound and network cards may be integrated into the motherboard in a laptop to save space, laptops may have internal speakers (although usually poor quality), both laptops and computers will have ports but you are much more likely to have more ports and different types on a desktop compared to a laptop. Laptops are designed for portability, which also makes them a target for theft. Laptops take up less room on a desk but are easier to drop and damage than a desktop. Cost is a difficult one to compare as both can be cheap and expensive.