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How Computers Work

A computer takes in raw data as input, stores the data in memory until it is ready to process it, processes the data using a central processing unit (CPU), and outputs the results. It functions similarly to a person who receives math problems as letters, stores them on a desk until solving them using their brain, and outputs the answers in outgoing letters. The main components of a computer that enable these functions are input devices like keyboards and mice, storage memory like hard drives, the processing CPU, and output devices like screens and printers.

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Anna Prat
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485 views

How Computers Work

A computer takes in raw data as input, stores the data in memory until it is ready to process it, processes the data using a central processing unit (CPU), and outputs the results. It functions similarly to a person who receives math problems as letters, stores them on a desk until solving them using their brain, and outputs the answers in outgoing letters. The main components of a computer that enable these functions are input devices like keyboards and mice, storage memory like hard drives, the processing CPU, and output devices like screens and printers.

Uploaded by

Anna Prat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HOW COMPUTERS WORK?

What is a computer?

Photo: Computers that used to take up a huge room now fit comfortably on your finger!.

A computer is an electronic machine that processes information—in other words, an


information processor: it takes in raw information (or data) at one end, stores it until it's
ready to work on it, chews and crunches it for a bit, then spits out the results at the other
end. All these processes have a name. Taking in information is called input, storing
information is better known as memory (or storage), chewing information is also known as
processing, and spitting out results is called output.

Imagine if a computer were a person. Suppose you have a friend who's really good at math.
She is so good that everyone she knows posts their math problems to her. Each morning,
she goes to her letterbox and finds a pile of new math problems waiting for her attention.
She piles them up on her desk until she gets around to looking at them. Each afternoon, she
takes a letter off the top of the pile, studies the problem, works out the solution, and scribbles
the answer on the back. She puts this in an envelope addressed to the person who sent her
the original problem and sticks it in her out tray, ready to post. Then she moves to the next
letter in the pile. You can see that your friend is working just like a computer. Her letterbox is
her input; the pile on her desk is her memory; her brain is the processor that works out the
solutions to the problems; and the out tray on her desk is her output.

Once you understand that computers are about input, memory, processing, and output, all
the junk on your desk makes a lot more sense:
Artwork: A computer works by combining input, storage, processing, and output. All the main parts of a computer
system are involved in one of these four processes.

● Input: Your keyboard and mouse, for example, are just input units—ways of getting
information into your computer that it can process. If you use a microphone and voice
recognition software, that's another form of input.
● Memory/storage: Your computer probably stores all your documents and files on a
hard drive: a huge magnetic memory. But smaller, computer-based devices like
digital cameras and cellphones use other kinds of storage such as flash memory
cards.
● Processing: Your computer's processor (sometimes known as the central
processing unit) is a microchip buried deep inside. It works amazingly hard and
gets incredibly hot in the process. That's why your computer has a little fan blowing
away—to stop its brain from overheating!
● Output: Your computer probably has an LCD screen capable of displaying high-
resolution (very detailed) graphics, and probably also stereo loudspeakers. You may
have an inkjet printer on your desk too to make a more permanent form of output.

*IF YOU PRESS THE WORDS IN BLUE YOU WILL SEE A PICTURE OF THAT DEVICE.

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