CSC 103: How Computers Work
Homework 2: Parts of a Computer
Due: Monday April 4 before class (on Moodle as a PDF)
Overview
For this homework we will be creating a collaborative vocabulary list. Each person is only responsible for one term, then I'll collect everything and make it available to everyone. Your definition should satisfy these requirements:- Your definition must be in your own words. You may use any sources you like, but make sure to include them
as references and do not copy the words verbatim.
- Your definition should make sense to someone who is not taking
this class and has never taken computer science (imagine explaining
this to an elementary school student).
- Your definition should address some historical aspect unless it
seems inappropriate.
- Relate your definition as much as possible to what we
have been talking about in class.
- Limit your definition to between 3-5 sentences. If you feel a
picture would be helpful for explaining the concept, you may include
that as well (with attribution).
- Submit this on Moodle as a PDF document (you can convert Word
files to PDF).
One more thing to keep in mind. Here are the "specs" of a computer on the market today. If any of this applies to your term, include an interpretation in your definition.
From: www.apple.com
Encoded Names
The first step is to find your word, using the encoding below. Here are a few hints:
- All first names are written in lowercase letters.
- If
your name has a space, it's been removed.
- If there are two people
with the same name, the last initial has been added.
- The letters
a-z have been encoded as 0,1,2,3,...25, except in binary.
- The encoding is fixed-length, so each letter is encoded as a string of the same length.
| Encoded Name | Term |
|---|---|
| 011000000010111010000110100100 | Boolean algebra |
| 00100000100011101110 | CPU |
| 000010101111000100110011100100 | Charles Babbage |
| 0100101000101100111001101 | Claude Shannon |
| 010011010001011 | GPU |
| 0001100000100010001100000010110100000100 | George Boole |
| 1100100111001000110100110 | Moore's Law |
| 1001100000100100011100000 | RAM |
| 01100000000001100011010000010010110 | byte |
| 00000010110101101000100100111001101 | computer |
| 0100110100010110100000100 | computer cooling |
| 000000101100100101110100010010 | computing |
| 000001010100000 | data buffer |
| 1001000000100010000000111 | floating point |
| 01100001000000000110001110000001101 | hard disk drive |
| 00010010110000010100000110100000000 | integrated circuit |
| 001000110001000010111100001001 | logic gate |
| 010010111000000011010110100000 | monitor |
| 0000100100100111001111000 | motherboard |
| 1000100000011110011101000 | operating system |
| 001000110001000010111100001100 | power supply |
| 01011010000110100000 | semiconductor |
| 001110000001101011010000000111 | transistor |
| 01100000000001100011010000010000110 | truth table |
Notes
If you can't find your word, let me know (should be based on your preferred first name from your notecard). Save your definition as a PDF and submit it on Moodle before class on Monday.