CPU & REGISTERS
This CPU component performs arithmetic and logical operations.
What is the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)?
This type of memory loses its data when the power is turned off.
What is RAM?
The smallest unit of digital information is this.
bit
This logic gate outputs 1 only when both inputs are 1.
AND
ASCII uses this many bits to represent standard characters.
7
This register holds the address of the next instruction to be fetched.
What is the Program Counter (PC)?
This type of memory stores data permanently and contains firmware or BIOS.
What is ROM?
8 bits make up one of these.
1 byte
This gate is the opposite of AND; it outputs 0 only when both inputs are 1.
NAND
Give one limitation of ASCII.
It can only represent English letters and symbols.
This register temporarily stores the data being transferred to or from memory.
What is the Memory Data Register (MDR)?
What is the main purpose of cache memory?
To store frequently used data for faster CPU access.
This term describes the number of bits used to represent each pixel’s colour in an image.
colour depth
A computer network uses a gate that outputs 1 only when the two inputs are different. Which gate is this, and what is one real-world use for it?
XOR
Unicode uses up to this many bits to represent global characters.
32 bits
Name the three main types of system buses.
What are the data bus, address bus, and control bus?
Explain the difference between primary and secondary memory.
Primary memory (RAM, cache) is directly accessible by the CPU and volatile; secondary memory (HDD, SSD) is non-volatile and stores data long term.
In an RGB system, which color would the binary value 00000000 11111111 00000000 produce?
Why are GPUs more efficient than CPUs for tasks like AI or graphics rendering?
They have thousands of small cores designed for parallel data processing.
Define lossless compression and give one example.
Data is compressed with no loss (e.g., RLE, ZIP, Huffman coding).
Describe the three steps of the machine instruction cycle
fetch the instruction, decode it, and execute it
SSDs and flash drives use this type of memory technology.
What is flash memory?
It stores additional information like author, creation date, camera settings, or file format that helps manage and identify files.
What is metadata?
The clock speed of a processor is measured in which unit, and what does it represent?
Hertz (Hz): the number of instruction cycles the CPU can perform per second.
Explain why images often use lossy compression.
Because small quality losses are acceptable for large file size reduction.