By: Zach Droege and Mitch Goetten

 Def.- A case that contains electronic components of the computer used to process data.  Available in variety of shapes and sizes.  All components have a system unit.  Chassis is plastic case that protects electronic components.

 Def.- Main circuit board of the system unit.  Sometimes called system board.  Many electronic components attach to the motherboard; others are built into it.  Memory chips are installed on memory cards that fit into a slot on the motherboard.

 Def.- Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer.  Central processing unit (CPU) is another name for the processor.  Impacts all of the computing powers and manages all of the computing operations.  Processor used over many separate chips on larger computers.  Processor is on single chips on personal computers.

 Def.- The component of the processor that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer.  Interprets instructions issued by a program and initiates the appropriate action to carry out the instruction.

 Def.- Another part of the processor and it does arithmetic, comparisons and other operations.  Arithmetic operations include calculations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.  Comparison operations include comparing data items to see if it is equal to, greater than, or less than the other.  Different actions will occur depending on the result of the comparison.

Expansion Slots

Expansion Cards

PC Cards

Flash Memory Cards

USB Flash Drives