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Hardware and Operating Systems - Coggle Diagram
Hardware and Operating Systems
Computer Language and Function
When we communicate or memorise a sentence or make calculations, we use a lot of different symbols, sounds and images.
Computers only use the numbers 0 and 1
This is known as the binary system.
The smallest unit of information that we can store on a computer is called a bit (b), which is an abbreviation for binary digit.
Eight bits together form a byte (B). Different multiples of a byte are used to store information
Storage Devices
Computer Elements: Microprocessor and
Memory
Microprocessor
Computer history is very closely linked to the development of integrated circuits or chips.
The microprocessor is an integrated circuit made up of billions of tiny transistors working together to process the instructions and data
received from the memory
Memory Types
RAM
The computer's main memory is its RAM
When we run an application, its instructions and data are copied to this memory so that the microprocessor can use them.
This is because accessing the hard disk is very slow. Since RAM doesn't retain information when the computer is switched off, we must save our work to the hard disk before we close the application. Otherwise we'll lose our work
Cache Memory
RAM cannot work at the same speed as the
microprocessor, so a much faster memory is installed between the RAM and the microprocessor: the cache memory.
The cache memory stores the data that the microprocessor uses most often
Computer Functions
We use the name hardware for the physical components of the computer system that we use and those we can touch and move, like the mouse and the keyboard. Software or programs refer to the data and the instructions we use to manage that data. Computers carry out four different functions:
Output
Output of data using
peripheral devices.
Storing
Storing data in the
storage devices
Input
Input of data using
peripheral devices
Processing
Processing data in the central processing unit (CPU), using the microprocessor and the memory
Computers process and store information in the form of text, numbers, photographs, music and so on. When we use a computer to do calculations, change the font of a text or change the colours in a picture, we are processing information.