Test Practice Questions:

(1) Make sure you know what all the following words mean, and can state examples:

Nanosecond, millisecond, MegaByte, Kilobit, Bandwidth, bits-per-second, mean-seek-time

Latency, cache, buffer, idle-time, microprocessor, CPU, frequency, MegaHertz

Byte, bit, bus, bipolar, ASCII, POTS, fiber-optic-cable, motherboard, micron

Modem, disk-drive, printer, network-adapter, keyboard, CD-ROM

(2) Explain what Moore's Law says, and why this is very important for the computer industry.

(3) Reduced size can increase speed. Give an example. However, reducing size by removing RAM chips or using a smaller hard-disk or a narrower data-bus would decrease speed. Explain why.

(4) Increasing frequency can increase speed. Give a specific example. However, frequency cannot be increased indefinitely. Increasing frequency can cause problems. Explain.

(5) Give typical numbers for each of the following:

frequency of a data-bus on a motherboard

frequency of a Pentium CPU

rotational speed of a hard-disk in rpm

amount of RAM in a PC

capacity of a hard-disk in a PC

bandwidth of a modem attaching a PC to the Internet

response time of a RAM chip

(6) Describe how more transistors can be squeezed onto a microprocessor. Describe one physical problem caused by squeezing more transistors onto a chip.

(7) If a data-bus is 64-bits wide instead of 32-bits wide, the computer will be faster. Why? If this is true, why not simply make wider and wider data-buses?

(8) What is DVD? Who needs it? What for? What clever changes will allow it to store significantly more data than a CD-ROM?

(9) For each of the following components, give an approximate number for how many bytes per second can be transferred:

keyboard, hard-disk, floppy diskette, modem, RAM chip, CPU, graphics card

(10) The Internet is a massively large, very cheap, very slow storage device. Explain why the Internet can be considered a storage device.

(11) Imagine that a student downloads a nice picture from the Internet, stores it on the hard-disk, and then copies it into an essay. Describe the path of the graphic image through various components, giving an approximate data-transfer rate for each component.

(12) Explain how compression can speed up computer operations. Explain how compression can slow down computer operations. In the case of the Internet, is compression desirable of undesirable? Why?