Dasmine Reddish
October 5, 2011
Period 6
Vocabulary
1. Computer- an electronic device, operating under the control of instructors stored in its
own memory
2. Information processing cycle- is the four basic operations, input, process, output, and
storage and use to change data information and store for future use.
3. Data- a collection of unprocessed items, which can include text, numbers, images,
audio, and video.
4. Information- conveys meaning and is useful to one or more people.
5. Computer users, end users, users- is the people who use the computer directly or use
the information it provides.
6. Computer program(Software)- for a computer to perform operations, it must be given a
detailed set of instructions that tells it exactly what to do.
7. System Unit-The processor, memory, and storage devices are housed In a box-like case.
8. Input device- any hardware component that allows you to enter data, programs,
commands, and user responses into a computer.
9. Keyboard- is an input device that contains keys you press to enter the computer.
10. Stylus- a small metal or plastic device that looks like a ballpoint pen, but uses pressure
instead of ink to write, draw, or make selections.
11. Mouse- a pointing device that fits comfortably under the palm of your hand.
12. Pointer/Mouse Pointer- the control the movement ob the screen and make selections
from the screen.
13. System unit- a case that contains electronic components of the computer used to
process data.
14. Motherboard- is the main circuit board of the system unit.
15. Central processing unit (CPU)- interprets and carries out the basic instructions that
operate a computer.
16. Control Unit- interprets the instructions.
17. Arithmetic/logic unit- performs the logical and arithmetic processes.
18. Memory/random access memory/ Ram- consist of electronic components that
temporarily store instructions.
19. Kilobyte (K or KB)- equals 1, 000 memory locations.
20. Megabyte (MB)- equals approximately one million memory locations.
21. Gigabyte (GB)- equals approximately one billion memory locations.
22. Memory Location/ Byte- Usually stores one character such as a letter A.
23. Output device- make the information resulting from processing available for use.
24. Impact Printer-prints by striking an inked ribbon against the paper.
25. Nonimpact Printers- form characters by means other than striking a ribbon against
paper.
26. Photo Printers- produce photo –quality pictures and are ideal for home or small
business use.
27. Display Device- an output device that visually conveys text, graphics, and video
information.
28. Monitor- display device that is package as a separate unit.
29. Flat Panel and LCD Monitor- the most popular type of flat panel monitor, uses liquid
display crystal, similar to a digital watch, to prosignificant popularity over the past few
years.
30. CRT (cathode ray tube)- the surface of the screen of either a CRT monitor or LCD
monitor is composed of individual picture elements called pixels.
31. Pixels- make up the surface of the screen of either a CRT monitor or LCD monitor is
composed of individual picture elements.
32. Storage Device- is used to store instructions, data, and information when they are not
being used in memory.
33. Magnetic Disks- use magnetic particles to store items such as data, instructions, and
information on a disk’s surface.
34. Formatting- is the process of dividing the disk into tracks and sectors, so the computer
can locate the data, instructions, and information on the disk.
35. Track- is a narrow recording band that forms a full circle on the surface of the disk.
36. Sectors- the pie-shaped sections, which breaks the tracks into small arcs.
37. Portable Storage Medium- you can remove the medium from computer and carry it to
another computer.
38. Hard Disk- a storage device that contains one or more inflexible, circular platters that
magnetically store data, instructions, and information.
39. Head Crash- when a read / write head touches the platter, usually resulting in loss of
data or sometimes the entire drive.
40. Backup- a duplicate of a file, program, or disk that you can use in case the original is
lost, damaged, or destroyed.
41. Floppy Disk/ diskette- an inexpensive portable storage medium.
42. Floppy Disk drive- a device that can read from and writer on a floppy disk.
43. Access time- the time require to access and retrieved data.
44. CD-ROM-a type of optical disk that users can read but not write on or erase.
45. CD-ROM Drive- CD-Rom Player
46. CD-R- is an optical disk onto which you can record your own items such as text, graphics,
and audio.
47. CD-RW- is a erasable optical disk you can write on multiple times.
48. DVD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive- (digital versatile disk-read-only memory) is a very highcapacity optical disk capable of storing from 4.7 GB to 17 GB.
49. DVD-R/DVD+R- competing DVD-recording formats, each with up to 4.7 GB capacity.
50. Blu-RW, HD DVD- with higher quality and more capacity than standard DVDs.
51. DVD-RW/DVD+RW/DVD+RAM- are competing DVD formats, each with storage
capacities up to 4.7 GB per side, that allows users to erase and write (record) many
times.
52. BD-RE/HD DVD-RW- competing higher-capacity rewritable DVD formats.