Title: Understand the term hardware
Course: Module 1, Concepts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

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Hardware

Hardware is the physical parts of a computer or computer system.
A computer is made up of computer hardware, or many physical components.

Some of the most well known components of computer hardware are:
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Monitor (sometimes called a Visual Display Unit or VDU)
- Motherboard
  - Many smaller components and connectors are mounted together on the motherboard
- CPU
  - The Central Processing Unit - this is often called 'the heart of the computer'
- RAM Memory
  - Memory that can often be added to, or 'expanded' (which makes things a little faster)
- Expansion cards
  - Such as a graphics card or a sound card
- Power Supply Unit (usually abbreviated to PSU)
- DVD or CD-ROM Drive
- Network card
  - For connecting computers together

Peripherals

The things that connect to the computer are often called peripherals.
Common examples of peripherals might be:
- Printers
- Mouse
- Keyboard
- Joystick - for gaming
- USB drive - for saving backups or transferring files
- Scanner - for creating digital images of paper documents
- Webcam - for video-conferencing, or chatting with your friends

Which of these are peripherals

Which of these is a peripheral device?

- A printer
Feedback: Correct, a printer is a peripheral device :-)
- A DVD
Feedback: Sorry, a DVD is not a peripheral device.
- The Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Feedback: No, the CPU must be part of a computer, so it is not a peripheral.
- RAM memory
Feedback: No, RAM memory is not peripheral (although a USB memory stick would be).

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