Computer Parts...FRONT MARCH!

Our PowerPoint presentations were an introduction to what we'll be concentrating for the next few classes. Since, now we know what system our computer uses to function we'll now be learning what aspects and computer parts help the computer use that system to function and be usable to us in our every day lives.

Motherboard
The motherboard is like the control base of the computer, it holds all the different parts of the computer on it. Everything connects to the motherboard and the motherboard is what enables the part to perform it's function.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU is one of the many parts connected to the Motherboard. It is the brain of the computer, except that it can't come up with new ideas, like our brains. All signals are sent to the CPU or the Processor in order to be analyzed by the computer and changed into binary (refer to previous entries). Every action goes through the CPU before it is carried out. The Processor, is really just the size of your baby finger, amazing how it can do so much!

BIOS
The BIOS is another tiny object on the motherboard. The BIOS is a very key part of your computer because the computer forgets everything once it's turned off. The BIOS reminds the computer about what to do when you start it up. Without your BIOS your computer can't start and therefore it can't do anything after that. The BIOS is a form of ROM (Read Only Memory), and you cannot write to the BIOS.

After that, we have the ways to store and access information. To do this you need some place to save your data and something else to open it up again.

Hard Disk
The Hard Disk is what we save all our data to. So if you save a file it is saved onto your hard disk. The Hard Disk just stores information so you can access it later on, but you need something else in order to open up the file later on.

RAM (Random Access Memory)
RAM is what enables your computer to open files while the computer is functioning. To understand this better we looked at the Hard Disk as a bookshelf and the RAM as a table. The Hard Disk holds all the information but you cannot use the bookshelf to read any of the information. To use this data you bring it over to the table and look at it over there. So the RAM is your table. The bigger table you have the more books you can put on it, the RAM works the same way, the more you have of it, the more files and applications you can have running at the same time. The RAM forgets everything once you shut the computer off so it's important to save all your information, just like placing books back on a bookshelf. RAM has been growing since it was first invented, the average computer now has 1GB of RAM, and the possibilities ahead of this are endless.