How Computers Work
By Megan Jones
How computers think
All computers have a CPU (central processing unit) made by a company that specialises in making these chips, for example, intel. CPUs are responsible for all of the processing of data from actions and sending it to the relevant parts of the computer. Its speed is measured in Gigahertz, the higher the speed, the faster the computer.
RAM
This is the RAM (random access memory) It stores data tat is being used at the present time, but not permanently and the data will be lost if not saved to the hard disk before logging off. Data that is removed without power is called volatile data. Normal computers have around 8bg in their RAM.
HDD
HDDs (hard disk drives) permanently store information to be used by the computer. They magnetically store the data in binary code on a metal disk. Their capacity is stored in megabytes (1024 MB in 1 TB) and modern computers usually store around 500 MB.
CD drive and Heat sink
Computers may also have a CD?DVD drive to play disks with a laser. They will always have a heat sink placed directly above the CPU, the heat sink absorbs all of the heat emitted by the CPU when it processes information. Without this the CPU would overheat and melt in seconds.