Computer And Info. Science Set 4

Front 1

System Unit

Back 1

A case that contains electronic components of the computer used to process data. They are available in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Front 2

Motherboard

Back 2

The main curcuit board of the system unit. Many electric components attach to the motherboard while some are built in.

Front 3

Chip

Back 3

Small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicon, on which integrated curcuits are etched.

Front 4

CPU a.k.a. Central Processing Unit

Back 4

Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer. It impacts overall computing power and manages most computer operations.

Front 5

Multi-core processor

Back 5

Chip with two or more seperate processor cores. Two common multi-core processors are dual-core and quad-core.

Front 6

Control Unit

Back 6

Component of the processor that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer. The control unit acts sort of like a traffic cop for a computer.

Front 7

ALU a.k.a. Arithmetic Logic Unit

Back 7

Another component of the processor, performs arithmetic, comparison, and other operations. Also does basic calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Front 8

System Clock

Back 8

A small quartz crystal curcuit that controls the timing of all computer operations. Sets the operating pace of components of the system unit.

Front 9

Clock Speed

Back 9

The pace of the system clock is measured by the # of ticks per second. Current personal computer processors have clock speeds in the gigabyte range.

Front 10

Gigahertz

Back 10

1 billion takes per second

Front 11

Binary System

Back 11

Number system that has just two unique digits, 0 and 1, called bits

Front 12

Bit a.k.a. binary digit

Back 12

The smallest unit of data the computer can process; not very informative
8 bits=byte

Front 13

Byte

Back 13

Provides enough different combinations of 0's and 1's to represent 256 individual characters. Characters include numbers, upper and lowercase letters, punctuation marks, etc.

Front 14

Memory

Back 14

Consists of electronic components that store instructions waiting to be executed by the processor, data needed by those instructions, and results of that info.

Front 15

Volatile Memory

Back 15

Temporary memory that is lost when the computer is shut down

Front 16

Nonvolatile Memory

Back 16

Permanent memory that is not lost, but stored, when the computer is shut down

Front 17

RAM memory (random access memory)

Back 17

Consists of memory chips that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices

Front 18

ROM memory (read-only memory)

Back 18

Memory chips storing permanent data and instructions.This data, on most ROM discs, cannot be modified

Front 19

Memory Module

Back 19

A small curcuit board

Front 20

Memory slot

Back 20

Located on the motherboard, they hold memory modules.

Front 21

Cache

Back 21

Two types:memory cache and disk cache; Memory cache helps speed process of computer because it stores frequently used data and instructions.

Front 22

L1 Cache

Back 22

Built directly in the processor chip. Usually has a very small capacity, ranging from 8KB to 128KB

Front 23

L2 Cache

Back 23

Has a larger capacity than L1 cache, with 64KB to 16MB. Current processors include advanced transfer cache, a type of L2 cache built directly on the processor chip.

Front 24

ROM

Back 24

Memory chips storing permanant data and instructions. Their data cannot be modified and is non-volatile memory.

Front 25

Flash Memory

Back 25

A type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten.

Front 26

CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)

Back 26

Technology that provides high speeds and consumes little power

Front 27

Access Time

Back 27

Amount of time it takes processor to read data, info., instructions, etc. from memory

Front 28

Nanosecond

Back 28

One-billionth of a second and is extremely fast

Front 29

Expansion Slot

Back 29

A socket on the motherboard that can hold an adapter card

Front 30

Adapter Card

Back 30

Otherwise known as an expansion card, it is a curcuit board that enhances funtions of a component of the system unit and/or provides connections to peripherals.

Front 31

Flash Memory

Back 31

A type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten

Front 32

Peripheral

Back 32

A device that connects to the system unit and is controlled by the processor in the computer

Front 33

Video Cards

Back 33

Also called graphics card, it converts computer output into a video signal that travels through a cable to the monitor, which displays an image on the screen

Front 34

Sound Card

Back 34

Enhances the sound-generating capabilities of a personal computer by allowing sound to be input through a microphone and output through external speakers or headphones.

Front 35

Hub

Back 35

A device that plugs in a certain device port on the system unit and contains multiple device ports in which you plug cables of certain devices into

Front 36

Graphics Card

Back 36

See Definition of Video Cards

Front 37

Memory Card

Back 37

A removable flash memory device, usually no bigger than 1.5" in height or width, that you insert or remove from a slot in a personal computer, game console, mobile device, etc.

Front 38

Port

Back 38

The point at which a peripheral attaches to or communicates with a system unit so that the peripheral can send data to or receive information from the computer

Front 39

USB Port

Back 39

Short for universal serial bus port, it can connect up to 127 different peripherals together with a single connector

Front 40

FireWire Port

Back 40

Connects multiple types of devices that require faster data transmission speeds, such as digital VCR's, color printers, scanners, etc. to a single connector

Front 41

SCSI Port

Back 41

A special high-speed parallel port allows you to attach SCSI peripherals such as disk drives and printers

Front 42

Port Replicator

Back 42

An external device that provides connections to peripherals through ports built into the device

Front 43

Docking Station

Back 43

An external device that attaches to a mobile computer or device, it contains a power connection and provides connections to peripherals; it usually also includes slots for memory cards and optical disc drives, among other devices

Front 44

Bus

Back 44

Otherwise known as a channel, it allows various devices both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other.

Front 45

System Bus

Back 45

Also called the front side bus, it's part of the motherboard and connects the processor to main memory

Front 46

Front Side Bus

Back 46

Also called a system bus, it's part of the motherboard and connects the processor to main memory

Front 47

Backside Bus

Back 47

Connects the processor to cache

Front 48

Expansion Bus

Back 48

Allows the processor to communicate with peripherals

Front 49

Bay

Back 49

An opening inside the system unit in which you can install additional equipment

Front 50

Drive Bay

Back 50

A rectangular opening that typically holds disk drives. Other bays house card readers and widely used ports such as USB, FireWire, and audio ports

Front 51

Power Supply

Back 51

The component of the system unit that connects the wall outlet AC power into DC power