Computing

• What is the full form of CPU?

  Central Processing Unit
• Why is the CPU considered the most important component of a computer?

  Because it processes instructions and runs programs
• What organ in the human body is the CPU often compared to?

  Brain
• What are the similarities between the CPU and the brain?

  Both process information and control functions
• How does the CPU process instructions?

  It runs one simple instruction at a time
• How many instructions can a CPU carry out per second?

  Billions
• What is the stored program concept?

  It involves storing both program instructions and data in memory
• Who proposed the idea of the stored-program computer?

  Mathematician von Neumann and his colleagues
• What are the major components of the CPU?

  • Control Unit
  • Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU)
  • Registers
• What is a register in the context of a CPU?

  A very fast memory location in the CPU
• What is the purpose of cache in the CPU?

  Cache is faster than RAM but slower than registers
• What does the Program Counter (PC) hold?

  The address of the next instruction to be executed
• What does the Memory Address Register (MAR) hold?

  The memory address of the current instruction
• What is the function of the Memory Data Register (MDR)?

  It holds the actual instruction and data fetched from memory
• What does the Accumulator do in the CPU?

  It holds the result of an instruction before it is transferred to memory
• What is the role of the Control Unit in the CPU?

  It coordinates and controls all activities within the CPU
• How does the Control Unit function similarly to a conductor?


  It directs the timing and control of other parts of the CPU
• What operations does the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) perform?

  It performs arithmetic and logical operations
• What logical operations can the ALU carry out?

  AND, OR, and NOT
• What are the three operations the CPU repeats during its operation?

  1. FETCH - fetches the next instruction and data from memory
  2. DECODE - decodes the instruction
  3. EXECUTE - executes the instruction
• What happens during the FETCH stage of the F-E cycle?

  The address of the instruction is copied from the PC to the MAR
• What does the Control Unit do after fetching the instruction?

  It decodes the instruction and decides if data needs to be fetched
• How is data fetched during the instruction execution?

  The MAR holds the address of the data to be used in the instruction
• What is the purpose of the Memory Data Register (MDR) during the FETCH stage?

  It holds the instruction fetched from memory
• A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically
• Computers are used as calculators, to store, retrieve and process data
• The first computers were the size of large rooms and weighed several tonnes