| A | B |
|---|
| Case | Holds all other components, including the Motherboard, Power Supply, Hard Drive, CPU, video card, and sound card. |
| CD/DVD device | A device that allows you to play or record CDs or DVDs. |
| CPU | Stands for Central Processing Unit, and is sometimes referred to as the processor. Sometimes called the "brain" of the computer, the CPU is the part of the computer that performs calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). The faster a CPU can do these calculations, the better it is. |
| Ethernet Cable | Looks like a fat phone cord. It is used when you want to connect a computer to the Internet, or to another computer. |
| Firewire | A high-speed port where you can connect an outside device to your computer such as video cameras and external hard drives. |
| Hard Drive | A device inside your computer, which stores information in the form of files. These files can be opened again after the computer is turned off. |
| Heatsink | A piece of metal slices. The Heat Sink absorbs the heat coming off of the CPU so that the CPU doesn't melt. |
| IDE Cable | Fat cable that connects the Hard Drive to the Motherboard, and also connects the CD/DVD device to the Motherboard. |
| Keyboard | Device that allows you to input words and numbers to the computer. |
| Monitor | Output device for computer. Displays information provided by video card. |
| Motherboard | The main circuit board of the computer, the Motherboard can be thought of like a spine. It links all of the other components together, and allows for communication between input/output devices, cards, memory, and the CPU. |
| Mouse | Input device for computer. Allows for point and click functionality. |
| Network Card | This card knows how to do exactly one thing - lets your computer communicate with other computers through an Ethernet cable. |
| Parallel Port | A place where you can connect the printer so the computer and the printer can communicate. |
| Power Supply | Converts electricity from the wall into electricity that can be used by the motherboard. |
| Printer | An output device connected through the Parallel Port. The printer outputs a copy of your work on a piece of paper. |
| PS/2 Port | The port where you connect a mouse or keyboard - NOT USB, but the other kind. |
| RAM Memory | Stands for Random Access Memory. This is a chip, which provides short-term memory. Data stored on RAM is lost when you turn of the computer or quit out of an application. (This is why you always need to SAVE!!!) |
| Sound Card | An add-on expansion board that improves a computer's sound quality, and adds other sound capabilities.A sound card makes it possible to use speakers, a stereo, and a microphone to record and play sound. |
| Speakers | Output device for computer. Plays sounds outputted by the sound card. |
| USB Port | Universal Serial Bus. A personal computer external bus standard, which can support up to 127 peripheral devices in a daisy chain configuration, can support plug-and-play (hot plugging), and has a total bandwidth of 1.5 megabytes per second. It uses inexpensive cable, which can be up to 5 meters long. |
| Video Card | A card that enables a computer to display information on its screen. The resolution, number of colors, and refresh rate of a monitor is determined by the kind of video card used, plus the limitations of the monitor itself. |
| Cursor | The on-screen pointer that shows where the next letter will appear. |
| Bit | The smallest unit of information a computer can hold |
| Modem | A device that permits a computer to transmit and receive data over a phone line |
