Chapter 2 Basic Hardware

drive

A computer's _____ stores data even after electricity is turned off. Thus, items like programs, documents, photos, and videos are stored on the drive.

memory (RAM)

A computer's ______ holds data temporarily; when electricity is turned off, all data is lost.

faster

A faster ticking clock means a program may execute _______.

Plasma

A grid of electrodes apply voltage to tiny gas filled cells, which causes the cells to glow.

PC (personal computer, aka desktop PC)

A ______ is typically used by a few people in a home or office, includes a keyboard and screen, and runs various applications like office productivity, web access, games, etc.

USB flash drive

A _______ is a non-volatile storage device that a user can connect to a computer via a USB port

tablet

A _______ is a specialized portable computer typically about the size of a book with the size being mostly the screen, which is used for both output and input.

true

A cache is a small fast memory on the CPU chip.

clock frequency

A clock's ticks per second is called the _____

true

A computer chip with a fast clock may get very hot to the touch.

40

A typical typing speed is _____ words per minute.

true

A widescreen monitor has an aspect ratio of 16:9 or greater

CRT (cathode ray tube)

A______ monitor houses an electron gun at the rear of the monitor, which emits a high-speed beam of electrons toward a vacuum tube located at the front of the monitor. Areas of the vacuum tube hit by the electrons glow, and emit red, green, and blue light based on the type of phosphor coating. The beam sweeps back and forth 50 to 60 times a second to continuously display an image on the screen. CRT's were large and heavy.

PC (personal computer, desktop)

Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975 to write software for this computer type, a type that was just starting to appear in homes at that time.

false

DOCX is a common computer format to scan to.

true

Flatbed scanners are often found in homes and offices.

cache (pronounced: cash)

For faster-running programs, many CPUs internally have an additional small fast memory called a _____to provide ultra-fast access to the currently-needed instructions and data.

hard disk drive (HDD)

For several decades, a drive consisted of a spinning disk that stored bits using magnetism, known as a

billion

Giga means one _________.

true

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.

false

If a CPU's program is like a chef's recipe, then a cache is like a cookbook of recipes.

false

Resolution is reported as the total number of pixels contained in a monitor.

tablet

Specialized computer that consists mostly of a screen.

true

Speech is becoming a more popular input to computing devices.

false

Speech recognition software is about as accurate as typing.

false

Speech recognition software was first introduced around 2010.

resolution

The number of distinct pixels used to display an image on a monitor or screen. Ex: 1600 x 900 indicates that the display contains 1600 pixels on each of the 900 lines, so the display contains a total of 1,440,000 pixels. Devices with higher _______ yield a sharper image and can display more information in the same area.

smartphone

The smallest discussed computer type.

clock

The speed at which a CPU runs instructions is governed by a ticking_____ signal.

solid-state drive (SSD)

Today, a _____ commonly implements a drive, using a computer chip (with no moving parts) instead of a spinning disk to store data.

true

Today, computers like tablets, book readers, and smartphones combine the keyboard and screen in a single device.

LCD

Voltage is applied to liquid crystals, which causes the crystals to untwist and allow light to pass through colored filters.

worsen

Wetting one's finger may _____ a touchpad's usefulness.

Speech input

_____ involves a user speaking into a microphone, with an app converting the speech to text

Device size

_____ is measured diagonally. Desktop monitors are typically between 17" to 30". Laptops and tablets have smaller screen sizes and are typically between 11" to 17".

Hardware

_____ is the term for the physical parts of a computer.

LCD

_____ technology was introduced in 1968 as an alternative to CRTs, becoming cost-effective and thus popular in the early 2000s.

control unit

_____ tells computer components, such as memory, the ALU, and input and output devices, how to respond to computer instructions.

software

______ is the term for the programs (the 0's and 1's) that instruct the computer what to do.

mainframe

______, which was a large centralized computer common in the 1950's-1980's that perhaps hundreds of people shared, often accessed through tens of connected keyboard/screen combinations called "terminals."

Screen

______Hardware for output that displays characters and images to a user.

Memory

______Hardware that stores data. _____ is also called RAM, short for Random Access Memory.

one gigahertz (1 GHz)

_______ means 1 billion ticks per second.

server

A _____ is a computer that delivers (serves) items like web pages, documents, or videos to other computers over a network, typically having no keyboard or screen.

smartphone

A _____ is a pocket-sized mobile phone that also has computer functionality, able to run various applications like web browsing.

computer monitor

A _____ is a standalone output device that displays text, images, and video on a screen.

speech recognition

A ______ app converts audio into text by recognizing spoken words

plasma monitor

A ______ consists of hundreds of thousands of tiny gas-filled cells.

QWERTY

The most commonly used computer keyboard has a _____ arrangement.

laptop

A ______ is a portable PC, smaller/lighter than a desktop PC, using less electrical power, and operable from battery power.

mouse

A ______ is a small device that a user can move on a desktop to cause a mouse pointer to move on a screen, and that has one or more buttons that can be clicked to select objects.

keyboard

A _____ is a common computer input device, allowing a user to press keys corresponding to letters, numbers, and symbols.

slower

100 MHz is _______ than 2 GHz.

100 instrs * (5 ns/instr) = 500 ns.

A CPU accesses 100 program instructions. Each memory access takes 5 ns. All 100 instructions are in memory. What is the total time?

900 ns 50 instrs * (5 ns / instr) + 400 ns + 50 instrs * (5 ns / instr) = 250 + 400 + 250 = 900 ns.

A CPU accesses 100 program instructions. Each memory access takes 5 ns. The memory can only hold 50 instructions. The first 50 instructions are already in memory. Replacing those 50 by the next 50 takes 400 ns. What is the total time?

true

A CPU can access an item from cache faster than from memory.

false

A USB flash drive is typically built into a computer.

false

A USB flash drive loses data when electricity is turned off.

false

A USB flash drive typically has an electric cord that plugs into the wall, for electricity while storing data.

scanner

A ____ is a device that can input printed materials into a computer, thus making the materials digital.

book reader

A ____ is a tablet specialized for reading books, typically having an ultra-low-power paper-like display.

modern optical mouse

A _____ detects movement using an optical sensor, which is a very basic camera; informally stated, the mouse takes quick photos (very simple ones) of the surface below, and by comparing features in successive photos, calculates the direction and distance the mouse was moved.

retina display

A _____ is a brand name for an LCD display with higher pixel densities.

working with graphical objects

A mouse is used mostly for _____.

stylus

A special pen-like device called a _____ can also be detected by a touchscreen, and can thus be useful for writing or drawing.

non-volatile

A storage device that stores data after electricity is turned off is said to be _____

true

A stylus is a special physical pointer designed to work with touchscreens

mouse

A touchpad may be used instead of a _____.

false

A touchscreen can be used effectively with a finger, pen, stick, and many other objects.

true

A touchscreen is a touch-sensitive device layered on top of a display.

CRT

An electron gun emits a high-speed beam of electrons toward a vacuum tube, which then causes targeted areas of the monitor to glow.

comparing successive photos to the surface below

An optical mouse detects movement by _____.

most

An optical mouse work on _____ surfaces.

LCD (liquid crystal display)

An_______ monitor consists of liquid crystals sandwiched between polarizing filters.

false

CPU stands for Central Power Unit.

hardware includes

CPU, arithmetic logic unit, control unit, Memory, keyboard, screen

false

Computer designers can set a computer's clock tick rate to as fast as they want.

pixel

Displayed text and images consist of rows and columns of colored dots, each dot known as a picture element or_______ produce a wide variety of colors by varying the ratio of red, green, and blue.

CRT

Early televisions and computers used ____ technology to display information.

integrated screen

Laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices have an _______ to display information.

server

Large, expensive, and rarely seen by most people.

true

Many computers have a fan that blows room air over a computer's CPU chip to keep the chip cool.

touchscreen.

Many modern devices like tablets and smartphones have a display that is also sensitive to touch, known as a _____

USB

Most keyboards interface with a desktop computer via a _____ port.

false

Printed documents are easier to share with multiple people

false

The ALU tells the memory how to respond to arithmetic operations.

true

The CPU (running a program) displays items on the screen by copying items from memory.

two

The CPU has ____ main components: arithmetic logic unit (ALU) control unit

true

The CPU runs a program's instructions.

slower

The QWERTY keyboard was designed to help people type _____

aspect ratio

The ___ of the width to the height of an image. Ex: 4:3 means that for every 4 units of width the image is 3 units tall. The two most commonly used ____ are 4:3 (fullscreen) and 16:9 (widescreen).

true

The larger a cache, the faster a program may run.

false

Touchscreens are convenient for fast typing.

laptop

Usually as capable as a desktop PC, but designed to be portable.

false

When a user types on a keyboard, the typed characters are stored directly on a computer screen.

arithmetic logic unit (ALU)

____ performs arithmetic (+, -, *, /) and logic (AND, OR, XOR, NOT) operations on binary integers.

(CPU) central processing unit

____Hardware that runs program instructions and controls other hardware; called the computer's brain.

Keyboard

_____ Hardware for input that allows a user to type characters.

flash

is a particular kind of non-volatile storage technology with the feature that large blocks of data can be erased simultaneously (in a "flash"). Many solid-state drives also use ____.

super computer

is used for computationally intensive jobs often involving big data and can execute trillions of instructions per second on large data sets. ____________ are much faster than the previously mentioned computers.