comp hard/software

Question 1

Why do computers use binary?

Answer 1

To store information simply and easily.

Question 2

List the powers of 2 up to 1024.

Answer 2

• 1
• 2
• 4
• 8
• 16
• 32
• 64
• 128
• 256
• 512
• 1024

Question 3

How do you convert binary to decimal?

Answer 3

Add up the power of 2s for each position with a one.

Question 4

How do you convert decimal to binary?

Answer 4

Write out powers of 2 starting with 128, placing a 1 or 0 based on if the number is bigger or smaller. Subtract it if it’s bigger.

Question 5

What is the purpose of a CPU?

Answer 5

Interprets, processes, and executes instructions from hardware/software programs.

Question 6

What does a motherboard do?

Answer 6

Connects all essential internal components, providing power and communication.

Question 7

What is RAM used for?

Answer 7

Short-term storage for temporary data accessed quickly by the CPU.

Question 8

What is ROM?

Answer 8

Permanent memory that stores essential startup and communication instructions.

Question 9

What do HDDs use to store data?

Answer 9

Spinning magnetic disks.

Question 10

What technology do SSDs use?

Answer 10

Flash memory technology.

Question 11

What is the role of a power supply in a computer?

Answer 11

Provides power to all components of a computer.

Question 12

What does HDMI stand for?

Answer 12

High-Definition Multimedia Interface.

Question 13

What is the purpose of USB ports?

Answer 13

To connect peripheral devices for data transfer or power supply.

Question 14

What is the function of Ethernet ports?

Answer 14

Connect devices within a local network using a physical cable.

Question 15

What are the advantages of USB-C over USB-A?

Answer 15

Compact, reversible, faster data transfer and power delivery.

Question 16

List the advantages of SSDs over HDDs.

Answer 16

• Smaller
• Faster
• Durable
• Quieter
• Use less energy

Question 17

What is the main advantage of an HDD?

Answer 17

Cheaper and has more storage capacity.

Question 18

What are computer peripherals?

Answer 18

External devices connected to a computer.

Question 19

Give examples of input peripherals.

Answer 19

• Keyboards
• Mice
• Microphones

Question 20

Give examples of output peripherals.

Answer 20

• Monitors
• Printers
• Headphones

Question 21

What is an application?

Answer 21

A computer program designed to perform a specific task for a user.

Question 22

What is an operating system?

Answer 22

A program that manages all other programs on the computer.

Question 23

List several desktop/laptop operating systems.

Answer 23

• Chrome OS
• Microsoft Windows
• macOS
• Linux

Question 24

What are the two most common mobile operating systems?

Answer 24

• Google Android
• Apple iOS

Question 25

What are BIOS and UEFI used for?

Answer 25

Connecting the computer's OS to its hardware and firmware.

Question 26

Where are BIOS and UEFI stored?

Answer 26

In the motherboard.

Question 27

What is ASCII?

Answer 27

American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

Question 28

What was the purpose of creating ASCII?

Answer 28

To enable communication between different computers.

Question 29

What is Unicode?

Answer 29

A computer encoding standard for different alphabets and symbols.

Question 30

What does Unicode do that ASCII doesn't?

Answer 30

Encodes multiple alphabets and unique characters, using up to 32 bits.

Question 31

How is data represented in hard drives?

Answer 31

By translating transitions in magnetization on discs to binary code.

Question 32

How is data represented in flash memory?

Answer 32

As electric charges in memory cells.

Question 33

How is data represented in RAM?

Answer 33

Using a transistor and a capacitor to create memory cells.

Question 34

How is data represented on optical discs?

Answer 34

Using a laser to read and etch marks into discs.

Question 35

How is data transmitted over wire?

Answer 35

Using currents at two different voltages.

Question 36

How is data transmitted through fiber-optic cables?

Answer 36

Using pulses of infrared or visible light.

Question 37

How is data encoded in radio waves?

Answer 37

By modulating amplitude or frequency.

Question 38

List the following units in order of size.

Answer 38

* Bit * Byte * Kilobyte * Megabyte * Gigabyte * Terabyte

Question 39

How many bits are in a byte?

Answer 39

8 bits.

Question 40

How many bits are in a kilobyte?

Answer 40

8,192 bits.

Question 41

How many bits are in a megabyte?

Answer 41

8,388,608 bits.

Question 42

How many bits are in a gigabyte?

Answer 42

8,589,934,592 bits.

Question 43

How many bits are in a terabyte?

Answer 43

8,796,093,022,208 bits.

Question 44

Match common file types to their typical measurement units. | Text files, docs, images, audio, video, apps, databases

Answer 44

* Text files: bytes or KB * Docs: KB to low MB * Images: typically MB * Audio: usually MB but can be GB * Video: usually GB * Apps: MB-GB * Databases: GB-TB

Question 45

How do you express file size from bits into a reasonable unit?

Answer 45

Divide bits by 8 for bytes, then convert bytes to KB/MB/GB by dividing by 1,024. ex) 8,000,000 bits = 1,000,000 bytes 976 KB (~1000 KB) 0.953 MB (~1 MB) 0.000931 GB (~0.001 GB)

Question 46

Describe situations where petabytes and exabytes might be used.

Answer 46

* Large data centers * Cloud storage * Scientific research * Internet data traffic

Question 47

What is the typical capacity of RAM?

Answer 47

8-32 GB.

Question 48

What is the usual capacity range for HDDs and SSDs?

Answer 48

Hundreds of GB to several TB.