All terms in this list:

bit: The smallest unit of data that a binary computer can recognize.

byte: Eight bits grouped together

file: A named collection of bytes that represent virtually any type of data.

system unit: system unit

circuit board: a thin board containing computer chips and other electronic components

computer chip: A very small piece of silicone or other semi conducting material that contains integrated circuits and transistors

motherboard: The main circuit board inside the system unit.

port: A connector on the exterior of the system unit case that that is used to connect an external hardware device.

central processing unit: The chip located on the motherboard of a computer that performs the processing for a computer.

multi core: A cpu that contains the processing components or cores of multiple independent processors in a single cpu.

clock speed: a measurement of the number of instructions that a cpu can process per second.

word: the amount of data that a cpu can manipulate at one time.

memory: chips located inside the system unit used to store data and instructions while its working with them.

RAM: memory used to store data and instructions while the computer is running.

register: High-speed memory built into the CPU

ROM: Nonvolatile chips on the motherboard that permanently store data or programs.

BIOS: The sequence of instructions the computer follows during the boot process.

expansion slot: A location on the motherboard into which an expansion card is inserted to connect it to the motherboard.

expansion card: A circuit board used to give desktop computers additional capabilities.

bus: An electronic path over which data travels.

Throughout: The amount of data that can be transferred via the bus in a given time period.

expansion bus: A bus on the motherboard used to connect peripheral devices.

Universal serial bus: A versatile bus architecture widely used for connecting peripherals.

FireWire: high-speed bus standard used to connect devices-particulary multimedia devices like digital video cameras-to a computer.

transistor: A device made of semiconductor material that controls the flow of electrons inside a chip.

arithmitic: The part of a CPU core that performs logical operations and integer arithmetic.

floating point unit: The part of a CPU core that performs decimal arithmetic.

cache memory: A group of very fast memory circuitry located on a close to the CPU to speed up processing.

flash memory: Non volatile memory chips that can be used for storage by the computer or the user