Activity 1 of 2 |
Next
>
Lesson 4: How Computers Store Information
Activity 1: Computers Need to Remember, Too
Computers Need to Remember, Too
Just as you need to remember how to add when you face an addition problem, computers also rely on memory. A computer needs an addition program in its
Random Access Memory (RAM)
to "remember" how to perform addition. When the user switches to a word-processing program, the computer can check spelling because the word-processing program is now in RAM.
Some things come automatically to humans. When you breathe or move your arm, you do so without having to remember how your muscles work. Computers have a kind of built-in memory, too. It is called
read only memory (ROM)
. ROM remembers only what it has been programmed to remember at the time the ROM chip was manufactured. "Read only" means it can never be told to do something different after it has left the factory. That would be like trying to reprogram you to breathe water instead of air.
Drag and drop the displayed items to each kind of memory to see if they are things that could be temporarily stored there.
Activity 1 of 2 |
Next
>
<
Return to Lesson 4
Contact Education
›
Terms of Use
,
*
Trademarks
and
Privacy
©Intel Corporation
