The Computer

What’s a computer?

 A computer is an electronic device that accepts

data and instructions, processes the data
according the instructions and gives the desired
output on a prescribed output device.
 How computer works

 Input stage – This stage comprises of entering

some sort of data into a processing. E.g. typing
data through keyboard.
 Processing Stage – This stage comprises of
performing certain tasks on the data to produce the
required output. E.g. It process (works on) the
data.
 Output stage – This stage comprises of obtaining
the results on a prescribed output device. E.g. the
data is displayed on the monitor.
 Advantages of computers

 Very fast, accurate and reliable.

 Never does careless mistakes and never gets
tired.
 Efficiency not decreases with age.
 Useful in all the fields.
 It has a mass storage capacity, if we use the
secondary storage device.
 Application of computers

Computers are used in:

 Scientific research
 Business administration
 Industrial application
 Meteorology
 Space technology
 Education
 Hospitals
 Court, etc…
Organization of a computer system
 Input devices: Keyboard, Mouse, etc.
 Output devices: Monitor, printer, speaker, etc.
 Central Processing Unit [C.P.U.] :Central
processing unit controls all the activities of the
computer system. It is here that the actual
processing takes place.
 The components of C.P.U. are :
 Control Unit: - Control unit is the most important
unit within the C.P.U. It controls the overall
activities of the computer.
 Primary Storage Unit (Main memory): - The Primary
Storage unit is also called as internal storage or main
memory. Its function is to store data, instructions and
intermediate final results temporarily. RAM and ROM make
up primary storage.
 Random Access Memory (RAM): RAM stands for Random
Access memory. As the name suggests data or instructions
could be accessed quickly /randomly from the RAM. It is a
temporary/volatile memory i.e. whatever data or instructions
are in RAM would be lost when the computer is switched off
.

 Read only Memory (ROM): ROM stands for Read only
Memory. As the name suggests, data can only be read from
this memory. It is a permanent /Non-volatile memory i.e. the
contents of ROM would not be lost when the computer is
switched off. The contents of ROM could only be read, they
could not be modified or erased. Within the ROM the
manufacturer stores a program needed by the computer.
 Representation of Data within the Computer System
 A computer cannot directly understand human languages
like English, Tamil, Hindi etc.
 It only understands a coded language. SO everything fed
into the computer gets converted into coded language. Only
then does it start processing
 All the data is represented within the computer system as
0’s and 1’s. BITS.
 Bits & Bytes
 0 and 1 are called BITS (Binary digits).
 8 BITS = 1BYTE A combination of any 8 bits is called a BYTE
 Each Character (alphabet, number or Symbol) of the English
Language is represented by 8 Bits(Byte) within the computer.
 Examples:

 Units of Measurement of Storage

 Byte :- 8 Bits make 1 Byte.
 Kilobyte :- 1024 Bytes make 1 Kilobyte
 Megabyte : - 1024 KiloBytes make 1 Megabyte
 Gigabyte :- 1024 Megabytes make 1 Gigabyte