INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

Experiment no 2:
Objective: Basic Computer Hardware Organization
Material must include:

 Difference between hardware and software

 Primary and secondary storage
 CU,ALU,RAM,ROM ,ASCII
 Mouse, printer, scanner etc.

Difference Between Hardware And Software:

Hardware Software
1. Hardware is the Physical components of a Software is the logical components of a computer
computer system. system.
2. You can touch see and feel hardware. You cannot touch and feel software.

3. Hardware is constructed using physical Software is developed by writing instructions in

materials or components. programming language.

4. Hardware is not affected by computer Software is affected by computer viruses.

viruses.
5. User cannot new make duplicate copies of User can make many new duplicate copies of the
hardware. software.

6. Hardware failure is random. Software failure is systematic.

7. ExamplesInclude: Examples Include:

8. CD, ROM, RAM, Monitor, Printer Etc. MS Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader
Etc.

Difference Between Primary And Secondary Storage:

Primary storage Secondary storage

1. The memory devices used for primary The secondary memory devices are magnetic and
memory are semiconductor memories. optical memories.

2. The primary memory is categorized as The secondary memory is always volatile.

volatile and non volatile memories.RAM is
volatile memory.ROM is non volatile.

3. Primary memory is known as main memory. Secondary memory is known as additional or back
memory.

4. Primary memory is temporary. Secondary memory is permanent.

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 5. These memories are also called as internal These memories are also called as external memory.
memory.
6. Commonly used primary memory(main Generally secondary memories range between 80GB
memory) available in the range of 512MB to to 4TB hard disc drive.
8GB RAM,s

Control unit (CU):

The control unit is a component of a computer’s central processing unit(CPU) that directs the operation of
the processor. It directs all the input and output flow and tells the computer’s memory how to respond the
instruction that have been sent to the processor.

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU):

An arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is the part of a computer processor (CPU) that carries out arithmetic and logic
operations on the operands in computer instruction words.

ALU is divided into two units: arithmetic unit (AU) and logic unit (CU). These are various basic circuits to
perform these operations.

Bus :

 These are a set of connecting wires used for setting interconnection between the various devices in
the system.
 Each set off bus has a specific function to perform like carrying data carrying control signals and
addresses.

Random access memory(RAM):

RAM is the hardware in computing device where the operating system (OS) application programs and data
in current use are kept so they can quickly reached by the device processor.RAM is found in servers PCs
,tablets , smart phones and other devices such as printers.

Read only memory(ROM):

Read only memory is a type of non volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices. Data
stored in ROM can only be modified slowly with difficulty or not at all so it is mainly used to store firmware
or applications software in plug- in cartridges.

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ASCII:

ASCII, abbreviated from a American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding
standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications,
,equipments and other devices.

Mouse:

A mouse is a small handheld input device that controls a computer screen cursor or pointer in conjunctions
with the way it is moved on a flat surface….Because the mouse reduces the use of a key board its invention
and continuous innovation is considered one of the most important breakthroughs in computer
ergonomics.

Printer:

A printer is a device that accept text and graphic output from a computer and transfers the information to
paper usually to standard size sheets of paper. Printers vary in speed, size, sophistication and cost. In
general more expensive printers are used for higher resolution color printing.

Scanner:

A scanner is a device that captures images from photographic prints, posters, magazines, pages and similar
sources for computing editing and display. Scanners come in hand-held, feed-in and flatbed types and for
scanning black-and-white only, or color.

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