Computer Anatomy

1. Input: The computer collects information or instructions from you.

2. Output: The computer displays information that has been processed.
3. Processing: The computer interprets the data that is inputted by you, it
adds, multiplies, divides, finds, or manipulates data or text to complete
a task you have given it.
4. Hardware: Any part of the computer you can touch. There are two
categories of hardware.

5) Inside a Computer
Power supply
Mother Board
CPU (central processing unit)

Brings electricity to the computer

through the power cord
The main circuit board of the computer
in which all components are attached
Known as the microprocessor, the CPU is
the main computer chip that processes
instructions and data.

External Cache

Memory that is external to the CPU and

is used for high speed storage of recent
information.

Internal Cache

Memory thats inside the CPU thats the

first place the CPU looks to find recently
used data.

Expansion Slots

Sockets in the mother board which

expansion cards can be added for more
space
A disk drive that holds, reads from, and
writes to the hard disk.
Spaces in the computer where disk
drives are placed, computers can have
several disk drives
Set of conductor wires that transports
data amoung the components of the
computer. The more bits the bus can
carry the faster information will travel
from component to component on the
mother board

Hard Drive
Storage Devices

Bus

RAM ( random access memory )

ROM ( read only memory )

Temporary memory that stores

information for the length of time a
computer is left running.
Computer memory on which information
has been stored at the time of
manufacture.

6) The four tasks that a CPU performs to process information thats been inputted
by the user is Fetch: The CPU gathers the code for an instruction and places it in
the information cache. Decode: The CPU decodes - interprets - the instruction in an
area of the CPU chip called the decode cache and determines which functions are to
be performed. Execute: The CPU processes carries out or executes the
instructions and sends the results to their proper destinations. Store: The CPU
sends the results of the instructions to the proper memory location to be retained
stored for further information.
7) Computers use binary code because theyre machines that only understand two
states (off and on). The OFF state is represented by 0 and the ON state by 1. Every
piece of information thats entered into a computer has to be digitally encoded as a
series of 0s and 1s in order for the computer to understand it.

Peripheral
1) Peripherals are plugged into special sockets called ports using the
appropriate cables. The Peripheral devices can be attached by cable or
wireless technology to the computer to perform special functions. Eg. Modem,
Monitor and Printers
2) The purposes of expansion slots are to hold the expansion cards and the
numbers of slots are used to indicate the number of expansion cards that can
be added.
3)
Type of pointing device
Mouse

Track ball

Description
Mice work by being rolled along a hard,
flat surface. The left button on a mouse
is normally used to click icons and to
select items on the screen while the
right button is used to bring up window
of shortcuts and commands.
Looks like a ball thats been put into the
computer. Users roll the ball to move the

cursor and sue buttons located near the

ball to click or drag.
Square located near the keyboard. Users
slide their fingers across the square to
move the cursor and use the nearby
buttons to activate commands. If you tap
the pad it will act like a click.

Touchpad

4) Mice can communicate with a computer without cables by syncing the

wireless mouse to the computer with a USB connector which uses blue tooth
to communicate the actions made by the mouse.

Storage

Storage Option

Maximum Capacity Cost in Cost per GB

in GB
$
(Cost/Capacity)
(note 1TB=1000GB) (round
to
neares
t
dollar)

Internal Hard Drive

3000

Solid State Hard

Drive

240

$156

$0.05/GB

$110

$.45/GB

External Desktop
Hard Drive

8000

$340

$0.04/GB

External Portable
Hard Drive

4000

$130

$0.03/GB

DVD (digital video

disc)

4.7

$30

$6.38/GB

USB
thumb/stick/key

128

$40

$0.31/GB

drives

1) External Desktop Hard Drive is the best deal, solid state hard drive is the
worst deal, I would pick the worst deal over the best deal if I didnt need that
many GB.
2) External Portable Hard Drive is the best deal, DVD (digital video disc) is the
worst deal you would pick the Hard Drive if I needed a lot of GB space, I
would pick a Disc if I only needed a bit of GB space and I would take the USB
as an easier way to store GB because its small and portable.