Basics of computer system

In this chapter we will learn about various parts of a computer

These are as follows

a. CPU Cabinet

b. Monitor

c. Keyboard

d. Mouse

All above parts connected together by wires (and now a days even wirelessly as well) make a computer system. We will go over more details below.

CPU Cabinet

A CPU cabinet is a cabinet which houses a computer’s central processing unit, or “CPU”. Often the CPU is cooled by an internal fan. CPU cabinet is also known as CPU Box. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the “brain” of the computer. The CPU does most of the work in a computer’s system and controls all other parts of the computer system.

Monitor

A computer monitor is an output device that displays text and graphics, and other visual information. It is also called visual display unit.

Keyboard

Computer keyboard (Fig3) is used to type and can be seen on the monitor (Fig2).

Below are important keys in keyboard.

The first key is the spacebar. It is used to create a space between words and sentences, and it can also be used as a modifier for other keys.

The next key is the Enter or Return key, which is mainly used to end a sentence and start another one.

The Shift key lowers or raises the alphabetical characters on your screen. For example, if you type in ‘a’ then press Shift and then ‘a’ again, you will see that what was once an ‘a’ has now become an ‘A’.

There are three other types of keys: letter keys (there are 26 of them), number keys (there are 10 of them), and function keys (there are 12 of them , F1 to F12)

Mouse

A mouse is a pointing device. It is connected to the computer by a wire or wirelessly. It is used to drag and drop files from one location to other location in the computer. It is also used to point to objects on a computer screen.

Printer

The printer is one of the most vital hardware components in the computer. It is like a copy machine for documents, but it can print out the hard copy of the text and images stored in your computer.