A computer consists of
Answer: D
Correct answer: All of the above
A computer, in the von Neumann scheme, consists of a central processing unit to compute and control, a memory to hold instructions and data, and input and output units to communicate with the outside world. Remove any of them and what remains is not a computer.
Please log in or register to report this question.
When was Pascaline invented?
Answer: C
Correct answer: 1642
Blaise Pascal built the Pascaline in 1642, at the age of nineteen, to help his father with tax accounts. Geared wheels performed addition and subtraction with automatic carrying - the first calculating machine to handle the carry mechanically.
Please log in or register to report this question.
When was the world’s first laptop computer introduced in the market and by whom?
Answer: B
Correct answer: Epson, 1981
The Epson HX-20, announced in 1981, is generally counted the first true laptop: a full keyboard, a small LCD, a printer and rechargeable batteries, all in about 1.6 kg. Earlier “portables” such as the Osborne 1 were luggable rather than lap-sized.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Machine language is
Answer: D
Correct answer: All of above
All three are true of machine language. It is machine dependent, since the binary codes belong to one processor’s instruction set; it is difficult to program, being written in binary with addresses managed by hand; and for the same reasons it is error prone, and errors are hard to find. Assembly language cured the worst of it, and high-level languages the rest.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Which is used for manufacturing chips?
Answer: C
Correct answer: Semiconductors
Chips are fabricated from semiconductors, silicon above all. A semiconductor conducts only under certain conditions, and it is that controllability - achieved by doping the crystal with impurities - which makes a transistor, and so a switch, possible. Buses and control units are things built from chips.
Please log in or register to report this question.
The difference between memory and storage is that memory is _____ and storage is __
Answer: A
Correct answer: Temporary, permanent
Memory (RAM) is working space: fast, directly addressable and volatile, so its contents vanish when the power goes. Storage (disk) is slower but keeps its contents permanently, and is much larger. Anything to be kept must be saved from the first to the second.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Magnetic disks are the most popular medium for
Answer: C
Correct answer: Both of above
A magnetic disk supports both. Its read-write head can be positioned on any track, so any record can be reached directly in about the same time; and records can equally be read one after another in order, which is sequential access. That combination is what made the disk displace magnetic tape, which allows sequential access only.
Please log in or register to report this question.
A byte consists of
Answer: C
Correct answer: Eight bits
A byte is eight bits, which gives \(2^8 = 256\) distinct values - enough for one character in ASCII or EBCDIC, which is where the size came from. Four bits are a nibble, and sixteen bits a word on many machines.
Please log in or register to report this question.
What was the computer invented by Atanasoff and Berry?
Answer: B
Correct answer: ABC
John Atanasoff and his student Clifford Berry built the Atanasoff-Berry Computer at Iowa State between 1937 and 1942. It was the first machine to use binary arithmetic and electronic switching, though it was neither programmable nor fully automatic.
Please log in or register to report this question.
ASCII and EBCDIC are the popular character coding systems. What does EBCDIC stand for?
Answer: A
Correct answer: Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
EBCDIC is an 8-bit character code developed by IBM for its mainframes, extending the earlier BCD scheme. It is a rival of ASCII, and the two are not compatible - in EBCDIC the letters are not even in one contiguous run, which is a nuisance when sorting.
Please log in or register to report this question.
