1 Exampromax - Stuvia US 2025/2026
CPSC 355 Final Questions and Answers (100%
Correct Answers) Already Graded A+
What does a basic computer system consist of
Ans: CPU
System Clock
Primary and secondary memory
Peripheral I/O devices
Bus
What is the purpose of the CPU
Ans: Controls the transfer of data across the bus and executes instructions
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CPU's main parts
Exampromax - Stuvia US
Ans: Control Unit (CU)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Registers
What is the purpose of a general purpose reg
Ans: to temporarily hold data and addresses
What is the PC's purpose
Ans: contains the addresses of the currently executing instruction and increments
to execute the next instruction
What is the Status reg's purpose (SR)
Ans: contains info (flags) about the results of the previous instruction
What is the ALU's purpose?
Ans: Performs arithmetic and logical operations stored in a reg
What is the CU's purpose?
Ans: directs the execution of instructions
How does the CU do what it's supposed to do
, 2 Exampromax - Stuvia US 2025/2026
Ans: decodes the opcode to identify the operation
What is the system clock's purpose
Ans: Generates a clock signal to synchronize the CPU and other clock devices
What is another name for primary memory
Ans: RAM
How can you access memory in RAM?
Ans: Must know the address
T/F: memory can NOT be written to or read from
© 2025 Assignment Expert
Ans: False
Exampromax - Stuvia US
Primary memory is volatile, what does this mean?
Ans: Data disappears when the computer is powered off
What is primary memory's purpose?
Ans: Stores program instructions and data (variables)
What is the size of each memory location in RAM
a) 1 bit
b) 8 bits
c) 16 bits
d) 8 bytes
Ans: b. 8 bits -> 1 bytes
What is the difference between Von Neumann architecture and Harvard
architecture?
Ans: Von: both data and program are stored in RAM
Harvard: data and prog are stored in separate memories
What is Bus's purpose
CPSC 355 Final Questions and Answers (100%
Correct Answers) Already Graded A+
What does a basic computer system consist of
Ans: CPU
System Clock
Primary and secondary memory
Peripheral I/O devices
Bus
What is the purpose of the CPU
Ans: Controls the transfer of data across the bus and executes instructions
© 2025 Assignment Expert
CPU's main parts
Exampromax - Stuvia US
Ans: Control Unit (CU)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Registers
What is the purpose of a general purpose reg
Ans: to temporarily hold data and addresses
What is the PC's purpose
Ans: contains the addresses of the currently executing instruction and increments
to execute the next instruction
What is the Status reg's purpose (SR)
Ans: contains info (flags) about the results of the previous instruction
What is the ALU's purpose?
Ans: Performs arithmetic and logical operations stored in a reg
What is the CU's purpose?
Ans: directs the execution of instructions
How does the CU do what it's supposed to do
, 2 Exampromax - Stuvia US 2025/2026
Ans: decodes the opcode to identify the operation
What is the system clock's purpose
Ans: Generates a clock signal to synchronize the CPU and other clock devices
What is another name for primary memory
Ans: RAM
How can you access memory in RAM?
Ans: Must know the address
T/F: memory can NOT be written to or read from
© 2025 Assignment Expert
Ans: False
Exampromax - Stuvia US
Primary memory is volatile, what does this mean?
Ans: Data disappears when the computer is powered off
What is primary memory's purpose?
Ans: Stores program instructions and data (variables)
What is the size of each memory location in RAM
a) 1 bit
b) 8 bits
c) 16 bits
d) 8 bytes
Ans: b. 8 bits -> 1 bytes
What is the difference between Von Neumann architecture and Harvard
architecture?
Ans: Von: both data and program are stored in RAM
Harvard: data and prog are stored in separate memories
What is Bus's purpose
