Chapter 5A - Transforming data into information. This chapter explain why computers use the binary number system, list the two main parts of the CPU and explain how they work together, list the steps that make up a machine cycle, explain the difference between RAM and ROM, list three hardware factors that affect processing speed. | McGraw-Hill Technology Education Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 5A Transforming Data Into Information How Computers Represent Data Number systems A manner of counting Several different number systems exist Decimal number system Used by humans to count Contains ten distinct digits Digits combine to make larger numbers 5A- How Computers Represent Data Binary number system Used by computers to count Two distinct digits, 0 and 1 0 and 1 combine to make numbers 5A- Teaching Tip Table on page 187 provides the first 17 binary numbers and their decimal equivalent. A fun exercise is to teach the students to count in binary on their fingers. How Computers Represent Data Bits and bytes Binary numbers are made of bits Bit represents a switch A byte is 8 bits Byte represents one character 5A- How Computers Represent Data Text codes Converts letters into binary Standard codes necessary for data transfer ASCII American English symbols Extended ASCII Graphics and other symbols Unicode All languages on the planet 5A- Insider information Windows XP, Mac OS X and newer flavors of Linux are fully Unicode compatible. How Computers Process Data The CPU Central Processing Unit Brain of the computer Control unit Controls resources in computer Instruction set Arithmetic logic unit Simple math operations Registers 5A- Teaching tip Table on page 190 lists the operations handled by the common ALU. How Computers Process Data Machine cycles Steps by CPU to process data Instruction cycle CPU gets the instruction Execution cycle CPU performs the instruction Billions of cycles per second Pipelining processes more data Multitasking allows multiple instructions 5A- Insider information More pipelines mean a faster and more efficient CPU. The current fastest CPU on the market, the Apple G5 has 80 pipelines! How Computers Process Data Memory Stores open programs and data Small chips on the motherboard More memory makes | McGraw-Hill Technology Education Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 5A Transforming Data Into Information How Computers Represent Data Number systems A manner of counting Several different number systems exist Decimal number system Used by humans to count Contains ten distinct digits Digits combine to make larger numbers 5A- How Computers Represent Data Binary number system Used by computers to count Two distinct digits, 0 and 1 0 and 1 combine to make numbers 5A- Teaching Tip Table on page 187 provides the first 17 binary numbers and their decimal equivalent. A fun exercise is to teach the students to count in binary on their fingers. How Computers Represent Data Bits and bytes Binary numbers are made of bits Bit represents a switch A byte is 8 bits Byte represents one character 5A- How Computers Represent Data Text codes Converts letters into binary Standard codes necessary for data transfer ASCII American English .
