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How computers work

An outline description of a Personal computer
The different parts of a computer:
Processor, Monitor, Keyboard, printer, speakers, mouse, switches, overlay board, Touchscreen,
Computer processors
These carry out the instructions that enables the computer to do things
Classroom computers have pentium processors. These are rated in MHZ (150-500) basically the higher the number the faster and the better
Memory
Memory is the workspace for the computers processor. It is a temporary storage area where the programs and the data being operated on by the processor resides. Memory storage is considered temporary because the data and programs will remain there only as long as the computer has electrical power or is not reset. Before being shutdown or reset, any data that has been changed should be saved to a more permament storage device of some type (usually a hard disk) so it can be reloaded into memory again in the future.
Memory is often called RAM (Random Access Memory). Main memory is called RAM because you can randomly (and quickly) access any location in memory, storing and retreiving data. RAM can refer to both the physical chips that make up the memory in the system and the logical mapping and layout of that memory.
Disks
Disks are storage devices that can store data (information and programs) permamently. Computers have two kinds of disks: Hard (or fixed) and floppy (or moveable).
Once information is saved onto disc the computer can be turn off without loosing it, and the data can be retreived from the disks when the computer is restarted.
It is important to have as much RAM and as big a hard drive as possible. Other storage devices are Zip discs (which operate like larger floppy drives) and CDroms.
CDroms are similar to music CDs but contain computer data. They can usually only be read from, you cannot save data or programs onto a CD unless you use a special Cdrom drive. They can store a large amount of data and they can be quite quickly read by the computer (so the symbol library in Symbols 2000 is on a CD)

Monitors
Display the visual output of the computer.