Fundamentals of computer systems: Hardware and software

Hardware - Physical components that make up a computer system

Software - Computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling computer hardware what to do and how to do it

Hardware and Software have a symbiotic relationship, this means that without software hardware is very limited; and without hardware, software wouldn't be able to run at all. They need each other to fulfill their potential.

Standard hardware components	The relationship between Hardware and Software
Hardware of a modern personal computer, can you name all the components?	A layer structure showing the relationship between various layers of software and hardware

Exercise: Hardware and Software Define Hardware: Answer: Physical components that make up a computer system. Define Software: Answer: Computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling computer hardware what to do and how to do it. Give names to all the numbered hardware components above: Answer: Monitor Motherboard CPU RAM Expansion cards / graphics card / sound card / network card Power supply Optical disc drive Hard disk drive Keyboard Mouse Give 2 examples of software: Answer: Word Processor Operating System Game Spreadsheet Virus Scanner etc NOTE: If you mentioned a brand name such as Windows TM, you get no marks, the exam wants software types meaning you should have written Operating System. After all, for the previous question, you probably didn't answer Nvidia GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0.