How Does a Computer Work?

Computer Basics

A computer is made up of many parts. Lets explore the parts to see if you know what they are called!

The Monitor
The monitor looks like a TV and lets you see your work and your files.

The CPU
CPU stands for Central Processing Unit.
They contain the brains of the computer. They can be desktop models that the monitor sits on top of, or tower models that stand up tall.

Floppy Disk Drive

The CPU has places to insert disks. One kind of disk drive is a floppy disk drive.

A floppy disk drive reads information from a very thin, floppy disk inside a hard plastic case.
Floppy disks can hold up to 1.44 megabytes of information.

CD-ROM Disk Drive

CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. They are flat, shiny disks that store information. Most new computers have CD-RW drives. CD-RW stands for Compact Disk-ReWrite. Most can hold up to 700 megabytes of information.

DVD Drive/Burner

The newest computers come with the option of a DVD drive. A DVD (Digital Video Disc) looks just like a CD, but holds much more information! They can store 4.7 gigabytes of data!

Flash Drive
A Flash Drive is a relatively new storage device. Its like a mini, portable hard drive! You plug it into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port on the front of newer computers and you can save to it!

How Do Computers Work?

Input--This is when information is entered into a computer. Some common input devices include the keyboard, mouse and scanner. Output--This is the information that comes out of a computer after it has been processed. The information comes out on output devices such as a printer or computer monitor. Processing--This is when the information is handled by the computers brain, known as the CPU (Central Processing Unit).

Input Devices

The Keyboard
The keyboard is probably the most used input device. It operates a lot like a typewriter, but has many additional keys that let it do special things a typewriter cant.

Special Keyboard Keys

The flashing light on the computer screen is called the cursor. This cursor can be moved up and down or left and right by pressing the 4 keys that have arrows on them. These arrow keys are called cursor keys.

Shift Key
When this key is pressed at the same time you press a letter key, a capital letter appears on your screen. When it is held down when you press a key with a symbol and number, the top symbol appears on the computer screen. There are two shift keys on your keyboard.

The Backspace Key

When this key is pressed, the cursor moves back one space to the left on your computer screen. This key is very helpful when you press the wrong letter or number. You can erase your mistakes!

The Caps Lock Key

When you press this key, a small light on the keyboard comes on. Whenever this light is on, any letter key you press will result in a capital of that letter appearing on the screen. Pressing the CAPS LOCK key a second time turns it off.

The Space Bar

This is the long bar located at the bottom of the keyboard. Every time you press this bar, the cursor moves one space to the right on the computer screen.

The Enter Key

When you write a letter or a story pressing the Enter Key makes the cursor jump down to the next line. This is a very helpful key to use when you want to start a new paragraph or youre typing your spelling list.

The Function Keys

Most computer keyboards have between 10 and 12 function keys. These keys are usually located at the top of the keyboard and give the computer user fast ways to give the computer special instructions. For example, pressing F1 when using a Windows program will allow the user access to the Help screen.

The Numeric Keypad Keys

On the right side of the keyboard there is a set of keys grouped together in a square. These keys have two functions. When the number lock key is pressed, these keys offer a quick and easy way of entering numbers into the computer. When the number lock key isnt pressed, these keys control the movement of the cursor.

Text Editing Keys

Located next to the numeric keypad, there are six text editing keys. These keys are designed to be used in Word Processing programs. They allow you to move quickly around a screen when you are writing a letter or story. They are very useful when you want to fix a spelling mistake, add a sentence to your work, or just move to another page.

The Mouse
Its another input device. There are two kinds of mouse. Some use a roller ball that allows the mouse to roll around a flat surface. When you do that and look up at the screen, youll see a small moving arrow. This arrow is called the pointer.

A laser mouse doesnt have a roller ball. It uses a laser light that makes the pointer move. Laser mice dont have to have their insides cleaned!

Scanner
A scanner is a very useful input device. You can place a page of writing or pictures in the scanner and it will send the information to your computer. There they can be changed, saved into a computer file, or printed.

Output Devices
Printers Soundboard Audio Speakers

Printers
One output device is a printer. Once a computer user has created something on the computer, such as a story, he can send it to the printer. The printer prints exactly whats on the screen.

Two Common Types of Printers

An inkjet printer usually prints in color. It prints by squirting out small dots of ink onto the paper. A laser printer uses a laser beam to create an image that is transferred to paper. It uses toner and a drum. The ink is powder.

Soundboards
A soundboard is an electronic circuit board, located inside the computer, that can produce music and high quality sounds. If you play video games and multimedia programs on your computer, youll need a soundboard!

Speakers
Speakers can be connected to your computer so you can hear very realistic sound effects and wonderful music. Some computer monitors come with built in speakers.

Computer Processing
Once information has been sent to a computer by one of the input devices its processed. The computer uses its brain to process the information. The computers brain is called the CPU, or Central Processing Unit.

Random Access Memory

When a computer processes information, it uses software programs. Each program requires a certain amount of electronic memory, or RAM (Random Access Memory) to run correctly.

RAM is temporary memory. The computer holds information in this memory and gets it when it needs it. If a computer has more RAM, it can solve problems and process information faster! If youre updating your computer, more RAM is a great thing to add!

Read-Only Memory
A second kind of computer memory is ROM, which stands for Read-Only Memory. This memory is permanent. The information there was put there when the computer was made. The computer needs the information in its ROM memory in order to function.

What are all those parts inside my computer and what do they do???

Computer Hardware
Hard Drive Motherboard Sound Card and Video Card Memory Card Power Supply NIC Card BIOS

Hard Disk Drive

The Hard Disk Drive is a magnetic storage device. All the computer programs and files you create and save are located there. This is permanent storage (at least until you uninstall software or delete a file). The hard drive is normally signified by the drive letter C. Todays hard drives can store a HUGE amount of information. A new computer might have a hard drive that will hold 250 GBs!

Inside the Hard Disk Drive case youll find circular disks that are made of steel. On the disks, there are many tracks, or cylinders. An electronic reading device called the head passes back and forth over the cylinders, reading information from the disk or writing to it.

Hard Disk Drives use Magnetic Recording Techniques. The magnetic medium can be easily erased and rewritten and will remember the magnetic flux patterns stored on it for many years!

Hard Disk Drives can spin at 7200 or more rpms (Revolutions Per Minute). That means in one minute, the hard drive spins around more than 7200 times!

The Motherboard

Your computer couldnt work without the motherboard. It ties everything together! It allows every part of your computer to receive power and communicate with each other. Everything that runs the computer or enhances its performance is either part of the motherboard or plugs into one of its expansion slots or ports.

Sound and Video Cards

Sound and Video Cards are Output Devices. They contain special circuits that allow your computer to play sounds and display graphics on your monitor.

Memory Card
Remember RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read-Only Memory)? RAM cards will remember what you tell them and can even change to remember new information. But, when the computer is turned off, it forgets everything you did! Thats why you always save your work!

ROM is good at remembering, but cannot change its mind. It holds the information that was built into it!

Power Supply
If there is any one component that is absolutely vital to the operation of a computer, it is the power supply! Without it, a computer is just a box full of plastic and metal. The power supply converts the alternating current (AC) line from your home or school to the direct current (DC) needed by the computer.

You can see the power supply from the back of your computer because of the power cord and the cooling fan. Computers put out a LOT of heat and need the fan to keep them from overheating.

Network Interface Card

A NIC card (Network Interface Card) allows your computer to talk to other computers! A cable called Cat5 is plugged into the NIC card and your computer can then be attached to a network and be on the internet!

BIOS CHIP
A BIOS chip (Basic Input Output System) is a very important computer component. In simple terms, the BIOS chip wakes up the computer when you turn it on and reminds it what parts it has and what they do!

Bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes and Gigabytes

Byte 8 Bits=1 byte KB Kilobyte=1,000 bytes MB Megabyte=1,000,000 (1 million) bytes GB Gigabyte=1,000,000,000 (1 billion) bytes

Ive heard those words, but whats a Byte??

All the information that moves through your computer is based on 2 commands. Thats all, just two. The two commands are ON and OFF. They are symbolized by 1s and 0s.

Thats right! The only information your computer can understand is ON (1) and OFF (0)! The millions of combinations of those two commands given in series are what makes your computer work.

The memory chips in your computer are divided into thousands of tiny compartments called bits. Each and every bit has an electronic switch, or gate. ON means the gate is open and letting electricity through.

Remember, the computer reads ON or open bits or switches as the number 1. Closed switches are OFF because electricity cant get through. The computer reads OFF bits or switches as 0.