Organization, CPU, I/O Devices Questions with Solutions

This topic covers how a computer is organised internally and how it communicates with the outside world. The central processing unit (CPU) has three main parts: the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which performs calculations and comparisons; the control unit (CU), which directs operations; and registers, which hold data temporarily. The topic also covers the system bus (data, address and control buses), the motherboard, and clock speed. Input and output (I/O) devices are the other main part. Input devices include the keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, OCR, OMR, MICR and barcode readers. Output devices include monitors, printers (impact and non-impact), plotters and speakers. Exam questions often ask you to classify a device as input, output or both (such as a touchscreen), or to identify which device is used for a particular purpose, such as MICR for bank cheques. Practise the CPU and I/O device questions below. Each answer includes an explanation.