Computers+101

Computers 101 Document
1.) Explain what a computer is. A computer is an electronic device that stores and processes information. 2.) Do you think a cell phone is a computer? Why or why not? Yes, because games can be played on it and the internet can be accessed. Data can be stored on it as well. 3.) What is binary code? How is it used in computing? Binary code is what computers read. It is a base 2 code using only ones and zeros. It's the foundational code of computing. 4.) When was the first personal computer developed? Who developed it? What was the size of the hard drive (memory)? Your classmates and you may have different answers for this question and that is OK! The first personal computer was the Apple I, developed in the 1970s by Steve Jobs. The hard drive size was 256 bytes. It was made out of wood. It also could have been the Apple II, developed by the same person. The IBM 6.10 was the first, developed in 1957 by IBM. 5.) Explain what a byte is. A byte is a unit of memory, consisting of eight binary numbers (or bits). It is capable of producing a single character. It is the basic unit of storage. 6.) Computer memory is measured using the metric system. How large are the following amounts of memory? Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte Kilobyte- 1,000 bytes Megabyte- 1 million bytes Gigabyte- 1 billion bytes Terabyte- 1 trillion bytes

a.) If it takes 2900 bytes to store 1 page of text on a computer, how many pages can be stored in 1 gigabyte of storage? 1 page=2900 1 gigabyte=1,000,000,000 1,000,000,000 / 2900=344827 pages b.) Suppose a book contains 400 pgs. Of text, how many books could be stored on a 1 gigabyte flash drive? 400 pages * 2900 bytes=1200000 bytes per book 1000000000/ 1,200,000= around 833

c.) A CD can hold 650 mb of information. A song on iTunes in .mp3 format is approximately 3.7 mb. How many songs can be stored on 1 CD? 650/ 3.7= 175 songs 7.) Go to the wiki and watch the video titled “The 7 Parts of a Computer”.

a.) What is the motherboard of a computer? It is like the skeleton of the computer, meaning that all of the parts are connected to it.

b.) What is the CPU? What does CPU stand for? Central Processing Unit it processes all of the information c.) What is the RAM? What does RAM stand for? Random Acces Memory, it holds software that you are currently running d.) What is the video card? It is a card that creates the images you see on the moniter

e.) What is the power supply? It gives you the power that your computer needs

f.) What is the hard drive? What is stored on the hard drive? The hard drive stores all of the programs and information when the computer is not on

g.) What is the optical drive? What kinds of optical drives are there? An optical drive is something that reads and writes DVDs. They are becoming obsolete becuase alot of movies and shows are digital now.

8.) Explore your Tablet PC. It is a HP Compaq tc4400.

a.) How fast is the processor? What is a hertz? Go to START> CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM>SYSTEM PROPERTIES A hertz is a measure of cycles per second (how fast) or how quickly it can do calculations. The processer is 2.00 gigahertz.

b.) How much RAM does your computer have? Go to START> CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM>SYSTEM PROPERTIES It has 2 GB of RAM. RAM is Random Access Memory. The more RAM you have, the more programs you can run at the same time and the quicker your computer boots up. c.) Determine the total size of the hard drive. Go to START> MY COMPUTER> RIGHT CLICK ON THE C AND D DRIVES AND ADD THE TWO TOGETHER. The hard drive size is 75 GB.

d.) Determine the type of video card that it contains. You may need to find this information on the Internet. It has an Intel graphics media accelerator 950.