๐ Inventions and machines ๐ก Communication
Computers
๐ In short
A computer is a clever machine that does calculations and handles information with amazing speed and accuracy. We use it to write, draw, play, learn and communicate. And there's a small, powerful computer in your smartphone!
๐คฉ Did you know?
- In 1896 Herman Hollerith founded a tabulating machine company, one of the first computer companies.
- A computer can do billions of calculations in a single second.
- The word โalgorithmโ in computing comes from the name of the Muslim scholar al-Khwarizmi.
- We shouldn't sit at a computer for hours without a break.
๐ Find out more
๐ Parts of a computer
A computer has a processor that does calculations like a brain, memory that stores information, a screen where we see the results, and a keyboard and mouse or touch screen to give it commands.
๐ Programs
A computer doesn't think on its own but follows instructions written by programmers, called programs. There's a program for drawing, one for writing, and one for a game.
๐ก The language of zeros and ones
A computer understands a very simple language with only two digits: zero and one. From millions of zeros and ones it makes pictures, sounds and text.
๐ฏ From a room to a pocket
The first computers were huge and filled a whole room. Then they gradually became smaller and faster, until a pocket computer is more powerful than those giant machines.
๐ธ More pictures
๐งฉ Test yourself
1 What do we call the instructions a computer follows?
2 Whose name does the word โalgorithmโ come from?
3 Which picture shows โComputersโ?