2: The System Unit - Processing and Memory Flashcards
“natural language” of computers that can only understand two states, “on” and “off” (0s and 1s)
binary form
the smallest unit of data a digital (binary) computer can recognize - represented by a 0 or 1
bit
a group of 8 bits - often used in context of digital data storage
byte
a group of approximately 1,000 bytes (1,024 bytes exactly)
kilobyte (KB)
a group of approximately 1 million bytes
megabyte (MB)
a group of approximately 1 billion bytes
gigabyte (GB)
a group of approximately 1 trillion bytes
terabyte (TB)
numbering system that represents all numbers using 10 symbols (0-9)
decimal numbering system
numbering system that represents all numbers using only 2 symbols, 0 and 1 - used by ___ computers
binary numbering system
a fixed-length binary coding system used to represent text-based data for computer processing on many types of computers - focused on Latin alphabet and English language
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
an international coding system that can be used to represent text-based data in any written language - has been widely implemented
Unicode
image made up of a grid of small dots (pixels) that are colored appropriately to represent an image
bitmap image
digital representations of sound at particular moments that recreate audio when played back in proper order - thousands every second
samples
still image within video data that creates illusion of movement when played rapidly one after the other
frame
a binary-based language for representing computer programs that the computer can execute directly
machine language
the main box of a computer that houses the CPU, motherboard, memory, and other devices
system unit
the main circuit board of a computer, located inside the system unit, to which all computer system components connect
motherboard
special connector exposed through the exterior of the system unit case that connects external devices to the motherboard
port
the chip located on the motherboard of a computer that performs most of the processing for a computer
central processing unit (CPU)
the central processing unit (CPU) for a personal computer
microprocessor
CPUs that contain the processing components (cores) of multiple independent processors on a single CPU (2 in dual-core CPU, 4 in quad-core CPU)
multi-core CPUs
the chip that does the processing needed to display images on the screen - can be located on the motherboard, inside the CPU, or on a video graphics board
graphics processing unit (GPU)