Chapter 2 Computer Hardware
True or False: A computer chip with a fast clock may get very hot to the touch.
True: Every time the clock ticks, millions of switches consume electricity to execute an instruction, generating heat. A fast computer chip might be 200 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot enough to cook an egg on; and why a laptop may burn a person's lap.
True or False: Today, computers like tablets, book readers, and smartphones combine the keyboard and screen in a single device. True
True: New screen technologies recognize what screen area is being touched, so the keyboard can be drawn on the screen, thus reducing computer size and cost.
True or False: The CPU runs a program's instructions. True
True: The CPU is like a boss that controls the other hardware items.
True or False: The CPU (running a program) displays items on the screen by copying items from memory. True
True: The CPU manages most of the computer's activities: getting user input data into memory, doing calculations on data, and displaying data from memory onto the screen.
Can the drive size be increased?
Yes: As much as 1.5 TB (terabytes) of storage is available, though at a higher price.
Can the memory size be increased beyond 8 GB?
Yes: he memory can be configured to 16 GB.
True or False: When a user types on a keyboard, the typed characters are stored directly on a computer screen. False
False: Actually, the characters are stored in memory. The memory is the main place for data.
How much storage does the base model of the computer have?
128 GB: The base model of the computer has 128 GB and an upgraded configuration can have as much as 1.5 TB of storage.
What is the maximum configurable processor speed?
3.6 GHz:The computer can be configured with a Turbo Boost of up to 3.6 GHz, though at a higher price.
In a dot matrix printer, the ink is located on a _____.
CLOTH
1.Prepare to run a word processor program. 2. Begin running the word processor program. 3. The program needs a document named Resume.doc. Prepare to access that document. 4. The program accesses Resume.doc 5. The program now needs a document named CoverLetter.doc, but there's no room in memory.
1. Copy word processor program from drive to memory 2.Run the program from memory. 3. Copy Resume.doc to memory 4. Continue running the program from memory, which accesses Resume.doc in memory. 5. Copy Resume.doc back to drive, then copy CoverLetter.doc to memory.
How much memory does the base model of the computer have?
8 GB: The base model of the computer has 8 GB and an upgraded configuration can have 16 GB of memory.
Giga means one _________.
Billion: Giga is a metric system prefix meaning billion. Mega means million
_____ is NOT a common computer format to scan
DOCX: While Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology can detect characters in scanned documents and import them into a DOCX (Microsoft Word file format), an intermediate step is typically needed.
True or False: CPU stands for Central Power Unit. False
False: Central Processing Unit. The CPU processes data as the CPU executes program instructions.
True or False: Computer designers can set a computer's clock tick rate to as fast as they want. False
False: Electrical signals can only travel so fast through a computer chip's switches and wires. Plus, a designer may choose a slower clock to reduce electrical cost and lengthen battery life.
Do the options for storage include spinning hard drive disks, solid-state drives, or both?
Solid -state drive: Every storage option listed is for SSD, or solid-state drive.
If a user wants to store large numbers of videos on the computer, the user should increase the size of:
Storage: Increasing the storage increases the number of videos that can be stored on the computer.
_____ are easier to share with multiple people.
digital documents: Digital documents are easier to share with multiple people because of the vast number of devices connected to the Internet. People can use email to send documents to many others at once.
100 MHz is _______ than 2 GHz.
slower: 100 MHz means 100 million ticks per second. 2 billion ticks per second is faster.
true or false:A cache is a small fast memory on the CPU chip.
true:In everyday language, a cache is a hidden storage of something like money or weapons. But in computers, a cache is a quickly-accessible memory.
true or false:If a CPU's data is like a person's phonebook, then a cache is like the person writing a phone number on his hand
true:The number on the hand is nearby and quickly accessible, but space is limited so the whole phonebook can't be written there.
True or False: Many computers have a fan that blows room air over a computer's CPU chip to keep the chip cool.
True: Those fans can be big and loud. Portable devices like tablets or smartphones usually use slower clocks and special low-power chips to avoid needing a fan (and for longer battery life).
true or false:If a CPU's program is like a chef's recipe, then a cache is like a cookbook of recipes.
false:A cache would instead be like a tiny paper that a chef keeps nearby, having just a portion of the entire recipe.
Flatbed scanners are often found in _____.
homes and offices: Flatbed scanners are useful for scanning documents one page at a time, a process often done in homes and offices.
true or false: The larger a cache, the faster a program may run.
true: Copying items from memory to cache is slow, so a larger cache means less-frequent copying.
true or false:A CPU can access an item from cache faster than from memory. True
true: Typically, a cache access requires just 1 clock tick, whereas a memory access may require multiple ticks like 4, 6, or even 10.
True or False: The ALU tells the memory how to respond to arithmetic operations. False
False: The ALU performs arithmetic operations. The control unit, another part of the CPU, would control how memory responds to an instruction, including an instruction to perform an arithmetic operation.
A faster ticking clock means a program may execute _______.
Faster: Each tick executes perhaps one instruction, so faster ticking means faster program execution.