Component Vocabulary

• CPU: central processing unit: the key component of a computer system, which contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute program instructions.

• Harddrive: a disk drive containing a hard disk.

• Ribbon: a band of inked material used in a typewriter, adding machine, etc., that supplies ink for printing the figure on the striking typeface onto the paper beneath.

• Voltage: electromotive force or potential difference expressed in volts.

• Current: the speed at which such flow moves; velocity of flow.

• Binary: consisting of, indicating, or involving two.

• Digital: of or pertaining to a digit or finger.

• Firewire 400 & 800: A high-speed serial bus that was developed by Apple, Texas Instruments and others via the IEEE. Standardized as the IEEE 1394 High Performance Serial Bus (HPSB), FireWire supports 63 devices, real-time data transfer, hot swapping and simultaneous multiple speeds. It is widely used to download video from digital camcorders to the computer and is also used in other A/V applications.

• USB: Universal Serial Bus: a standard for connection sockets on computers and other electronic equipment

• The formula for VIR: V=I*R OR I=V/R OR R=V/I

• Motherboard: a rigid, slotted board upon which other boards that contain the basic circuitry of a computer or of a computer component can be mounted.

• Memory: the capacity of a computer to store information subject to recall

• Resistance: the act or power of resisting, opposing, or withstanding.

• Bus: a circuit that connects the CPU with other devices in a computer.

• Transistor: a semiconductor device that amplifies, oscillates, or switches the flow of current between two terminals by varying the current or voltage between one of the terminals and a third: although much smaller in size than a vacuum tube, it performs similar functions without requiring current to heat a cathode.

• LCD: liquid-crystal display: a method of displaying readings continuously, as on digital watches, portable computers, and calculators, using a liquid-crystal film, sealed between glass plates, that changes its optical properties when a voltage is applied.

• LED: light-emitting diode

• Tube: a hollow, usually cylindrical body of metal, glass, rubber, or other material, used esp. for conveying or containing liquids or gases