Computer Fundamentals Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The characteristic is diligence.

A computer does not tire or lose concentration, so it can repeat the same operation millions of times with the same care. That freedom from fatigue and boredom is what the textbooks call diligence.

Accuracy is the ability to give correct results, speed is the rate at which it works, and intelligence is something a computer does not have of its own; it only follows instructions. None of these describes tireless repetition.

Answer: C

One nanosecond is \(10^{-9}\) seconds.

The prefix nano means one billionth. The common time prefixes are:

\[ \begin{aligned} 1\ \text{ms} &= 10^{-3}\ \text{s} \\ 1\ \mu\text{s} &= 10^{-6}\ \text{s} \\ 1\ \text{ns} &= 10^{-9}\ \text{s} \\ 1\ \text{ps} &= 10^{-12}\ \text{s} \end{aligned} \]

So \(10^{-3}\) seconds is a millisecond, \(10^{-6}\) seconds a microsecond and \(10^{-12}\) seconds a picosecond. Each step down is a factor of a thousand.

Answer: C

The fastest unit, that is, the smallest interval, is the picosecond.

The four units in order of size:

• millisecond = \(10^{-3}\) s
• microsecond = \(10^{-6}\) s
• nanosecond = \(10^{-9}\) s
• picosecond = \(10^{-12}\) s

A picosecond is a thousandth of a nanosecond. Computer operation speeds are often quoted in these small units, and the smaller the unit an operation is measured in, the faster it is.

Answer: D

The answer is Hybrid computers.

A hybrid computer combines analog and digital parts. The analog part handles continuously varying signals, such as radar returns, very fast, and the digital part provides precise calculation, storage and control. That combination suits real-time control tasks, and the textbook examples of hybrid computers are air traffic control, radar and air defence systems, along with patient monitoring in intensive care.

Microcomputers are personal computers, and minicomputers are mid-sized multi-user machines. Supercomputers are the fastest machines, used for huge numerical jobs such as weather forecasting and nuclear simulation, rather than for this real-time signal work.

Answer: C

1024 × 1024 × 1024 bytes is 1 GB.

Each step up the binary scale multiplies by 1024:

\[ \begin{aligned} 1024\ \text{bytes} &= 1\ \text{KB} \\ 1024\ \text{KB} &= 1\ \text{MB} \\ 1024\ \text{MB} &= 1\ \text{GB} \end{aligned} \]

So \(1024^3 = 2^{30}\) bytes is one gigabyte.

1 KB is only 1024 bytes and 1 MB is \(1024^2\) bytes, so those options stop one or two steps short. 1 TB would need a fourth factor of 1024, that is \(2^{40}\) bytes.

Answer: B

GIGO means errors caused due to incorrect input or unreliable programs.

Garbage In, Garbage Out is the principle that a computer processes exactly what it is given. If the input data is wrong or the program's logic is faulty, the output will be wrong too, however fast or accurate the machine itself is.

Slow processing, lack of storage and outdated software can cause other problems, but they are not what GIGO describes. The term is about the quality of what goes in, not the speed, capacity or age of the system.

Answer: B

Machines learn from experience through a machine learning algorithm.

A machine learning algorithm improves its performance on a task by finding patterns in data, its 'experience', instead of following only fixed, hand-written rules. Spam filters, recommendation systems and speech recognition all work this way.

The others do fixed jobs and do not learn: a sorting algorithm puts data in order, an encryption algorithm scrambles data to keep it secret, and compilation turns source code into machine code.

Answer: B

E-Governance refers to the use of IT in government services.

Electronic governance means using information and communication technology to deliver government services, exchange information and carry out transactions between government and citizens, businesses and other arms of government. Online tax filing, land records, e-procurement and the Digital India services are examples.

It has nothing to do with electronic games, and it is far wider than email: 'email governance' describes only one tool. Since one option is correct, 'None of these' does not apply.

Answer: B

The brain of the computer is the Central Processing unit.

The CPU carries out the instructions of programs, performing the calculations and making the decisions, and it directs every other part of the computer. That is why it is called the brain of the computer.

The control unit is only one part of the CPU, the part that directs operations, and the arithmetic logic unit (the option misnames it 'language unit') is another part. A monitor is an output device.

Answer: B

Artificial Intelligence is used to write programs for designing intelligent machines.

Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science concerned with making machines, chiefly through software, that perform tasks normally needing human intelligence, such as understanding language, recognising images, learning from data and solving problems.

It does not transfer intelligence from computer to human, nor does it automatically transfer a person's intelligence into a computer; the intelligence is built into programs by design and by learning from data. That rules out the two 'transfer' options and 'None of the above'.