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art
icl
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s-of
-a-
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er_
33628/

TOPI
C:Whati
sacomput
er?

A comput
eri
s a machi
newi
th el
ect
roni
cand el
ect
romechani
cal par
ts. I
tis
pr
ogr
ammabl
eandi
s capabl
e ofper
for
mingt
hef
oll
owi
ngf
unct
ions:Accept dat
a
(
input
) Pr
ocess dat
a Gener
ate out
put (
inf
ormat
ion) St
ore dat
a/i
nfor
mat
ion
Ret
ri
eve/
senddat
a/i
nfor
mat
ion.Thef
oll
owi
ngbasi
ccomput
ingf
unct
ions:

•Acceptdat
a(i
nput
)

•Pr
ocessdat
a

•Gener
ateout
put(
inf
ormat
ion)

•St
oredat
a/i
nfor
mat
ion

•Ret
ri
eve/
senddat
a/i
nfor
mat
ion

Basi
cComponent
soft
heComput
er

1.I
nputUni
t

I
nputuni
tisusedt
ofeedanyf
orm ofdat
atot
hecomput
er,whi
chcanbest
oredi
nthe
memor
yuni
tforf
urt
herpr
ocessi
ng.Exampl
e:Key
boar
d,mouse,
etc.

1
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-a-
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2.Cent
ral
Processi
ngUni
t

CPUi
sthemaj
orcomponentwhi
chi
nter
pret
sandexecut
essof
twar
einst
ruct
ions.I
t
al
socont
rolt
heoper
ati
onofal
lot
hercomponent
ssuchasmemor
y,i
nputandout
put
uni
ts.I
taccept
sbi
nar
ydat
aasi
nput
,pr
ocesst
hedat
aaccor
dingt
othei
nst
ruct
ionsand
pr
ovi
det
her
esul
tasout
put
.

TheCPUhast
hreecomponent
swhi
char
eCont
roluni
t,Ar
it
hmet
icandl
ogi
cuni
t(ALU)
andMemor
yuni
t.

2.
1Ar
it
hmet
icandLogi
cUni
t

TheALUi
sapar
toft
heCPUwher
evar
iouscomput
ingf
unct
ionsar
eper
for
medondat
a.
TheALUper
for
msar
it
hmet
icoper
ati
onssuchasaddi
ti
on,subt
ract
ion,mul
ti
pli
cat
ion,
di
vi
sionandl
ogi
caloper
ati
ons.Ther
esul
tofanoper
ati
oni
sst
oredi
nint
ernalmemor
y
ofCPU.The l
ogi
caloper
ati
ons ofALU pr
omot
ethe deci
sion-
maki
ng abi
l
ityofa
comput
er.

2.
2Cont
rol
Uni
t

Thecont
roluni
tcont
rol
sthef
lowofdat
abet
weent
heCPU,
memor
yandI
/Odev
ices.I
t
al
socont
rol
stheent
ir
eoper
ati
onofacomput
er.

3.Out
putUni
t

AnOut
putUni
tisanyhar
dwar
ecomponentt
hatconv
eysi
nfor
mat
iont
ouser
sinan
under
standabl
efor
m.Exampl
e:Moni
tor
,Pr
int
eret
c.

4.Memor
yUni
t

TheMemor
yUni
tisoft
wot
ypeswhi
char
epr
imar
ymemor
yandsecondar
ymemor
y.
Thepr
imar
ymemor
yisusedt
otempor
ari
l
yst
oret
hepr
ogr
amsanddat
awhent
he
i
nst
ruct
ionsar
ereadyt
oexecut
e.Thesecondar
ymemor
yisusedt
ost
oret
hedat
a
per
manent
ly.

ThePr
imar
yMemor
yisv
olat
il
e,t
hati
s,t
hecont
enti
slostwhent
hepowersuppl
yis
swi
tchedof
f.TheRandom AccessMemor
y(RAM)i
sanexampl
eofamai
nmemor
y.
TheSecondar
ymemor
yisnonv
olat
il
e,t
hati
s,t
hecont
enti
sav
ail
abl
eev
enaf
tert
he
powersuppl
yisswi
tchedof
f.Har
ddi
sk,CD-
ROM andDVD ROM ar
eexampl
esof

2
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-a-
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secondar
ymemor
y.

ByCor
nel
i
usSi
chi
nga