here are two websites for terms for computer http://www.geocities.com/ikind_babel/babel/babel.html http://www.techterms.com/ motherboard CPU power supply Hard drive DVD/CD rom connectors Cards (such as video, network,audio) if you want more than what is provided than onboard case keyboard mouse case modem(if doing dialup) Floppy(some still use like for installing a Raid setup) The Four Basic Functions of a Computer Input -- Input devices enable us to get information into a computer. Some examples include a keyboard, mouse, microphone, scanner, or digital camera. Storage -- There are two types of storage: temporary and long-term. RAM, or random access memory, is temporary, meaning it stores information as you use it, but it is being constantly erased and rewritten as you open and close files. Long-term storage holds information for as long as you want it. Hard drives, portable hard drives, floppy drives, flash drives, CD’s, and DVD’s are long term storage devices. Processor -- A microprocessor controls the computers’ functions. It can be as small as a dime or larger such as 1-2" , but contains millions of transistors that perform millions of instructions per second. The microprocessor performs these instructions using a three-step process: fetch, decode and execute. Output -- Information that has been processed is communicated back to the user in the form of words, sounds or pictures, and is delivered through printers, speakers, monitors or other output devices. Sometimes output is just written back to a storage device. keyboard-input http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_keyboard CD's-storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc CPU-Processor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microprocessor monitors-output http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor Ram also known as memory- http://www.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm A memory device in which information can be accessed in any order. [ R(ANDOM-)A(CCESS) M(EMORY) RAM (random access memory) is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer's processor. RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, the hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM. However, the data in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk. ROM or other wise known as CD-Rom or your DVD-ROM refer back to storage CD-ROM drive - a drive that is connected to a computer and on which a CD-ROM can be `played' drive - (computer science) a device that writes data onto or reads data from a storage medium CD-ROM drives are necessary today for most programs. A single CD can store up to 650 MB of data (newer CD-Rs allow for 700 MB of data, perhaps more with "overburn"). Fast CD-ROM drives have been a big topic in the past, but all of today's CD-ROM drives are sufficiently fast. Of course, it's nice to have the little bits of extra speed. However, when you consider CD-ROM drives are generally used just to install a program or copy CDs, both of which are usually done rarely on most users' computers, the extra speed isn't usually very important. The speed can play a big role if you do a lot of CD burning at high speeds or some audio extraction from audio CDs (i.e. converting CDs to MP3s). CD-R/RW (which stands for Recordable / ReWritable) drives (aka burners, writers) allow a user to create their own CDs of audio and/or data. These drives are great for backup purposes (backup your computer's hard drive or backup your purchased CDs) and for creating your own audio CD compilations (not to mention other things like home movies, multimedia presentations, etc.). DVD-ROM drives can store up to 4 GB of data or about 6 times the size of a regular CD (not sure on the exact size, but suffice to say it's a very large storage medium). DVDs look about the same and are the same size as a CD-ROM. DVD drives can also read CD-ROM drives, so you don't usually need a separate CD-ROM drive. DVD drives have become low enough inprice that there isn't much point in purchasing a CD-ROM drive instead of a DVD-ROM drive. Some companies even make CD burner drives that will also read DVDs (all in one). DVD's most practical use is movies. The DVD format allows for much higher resolution digital recording that looks much clearer than VCR recordings. DVD recordable drives are available in a couple of different formats - DVD-R or DVD+R with a RW version of each. These are slightly different discs and drives (although some drives support writing to both formats). One is not much better than the other, so it really boils down to price of the media (and also availability of the media). little more information on CPU http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm Central Processing Unit. Also known as a processor or microprocessor, the CPU is the brains of a computer. It’s responsible for executing computer instructions, and is one of the most important elements in a computer. well I hope I have answered most of your questions, and since I know this is probably homework I left a little of it for you to look up under certain items, the URL are there with all the rest of the information.