Webcam

We just learned about the Bluetooth.

Another part of a computer is a Webcam.

Not that long ago, if you wanted to send a picture to your friend you had to put it in an envelope and mail it through the post office.

These days if you want to send a picture you can take one with your phone camera, or the camera hooked up to your computer.
Remmember that smart phones are actually tiny computers!

You can even have a live video with a friend and you can see them using the cameras on your computers.
When these cameras on computers first came out they were called Webcams, and they usually were a separate camera that you set up and plugged into your computer.
These days pretty much every laptop already has a camera in it, but sometimes people still want a fancy expensive camera to use for talking to their friends over the computer.



(from: wikipedia - webcam)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coolant Passages

Bluetooth

We just learned about the Power Supply.

Another part of a computer is Bluetooth.

We know that you can hook things up to your computer like your monitor, or plugs things into USB ports.
But sometimes you might have a keyboard, mouse or headphones that are wireless and don't plug into anything.

For things like that you can use something called Bluetooth, which is a way for your computer to talk to other things using radio waves on a certain channel.
If you want to hook up a bluetooth mouse, it's kind of like both your computer and your mouse have to turn on the radio and listen to the same station.
Once they are on the same station they know how to talk to each other, and the mouse can send message to the computer to move the cursor around.

The Bluetooth name comes from an old Scandinavian king named Harald Bluetooth, who helped bring Danish tribe together into one kingdom.
This was supposed to mean that the Bluetooth way of wireless radio could be the way to help bring other technologies together.
The symbol that kind of looks like an xB is the symbol of the King.


(from: wikipedia - bluetooth)


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Power Supply

We just learned about the Disk Drive.

Another part of a computer is the Power Supply.

Everything in the computer uses electricity, like the motherboard, the disk drives, and even some high powered graphics cards.

The power supply takes the electricity coming in from the plug, turns it into the just the right amount and type of power that the computer needs, and it has a bunch of other wires with plugs that go into the motherboard, drives and other places.

The power supply also has a fan on it, that helps keep the computer cool so it doesn't overheat.


(from: wikipedia - power supply unit (computer))


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Disk Drive

We just learned about the Network Card.

Another part of a computer is the Disk Drive.

Some computers have a place where you can put in a CD or DVD to play music or movies, called a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
Other computers might have a place where you can put in something called a disk that you can save pictures or other things on.

Long ago computers used something called a floppy disk.
The first floppy disks were big and floppy, which is how they got the name.
Floppy disks were square thin plastic things that you put into your computer that you could save information to.

On a lot of computer programs, the "Save" button still looks like a picture of an old floppy disk even though nobody uses them anymore.



(from: wikipedia - floppy disk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cylinder

Network Card

We just learned about the Sound Card.

Another part of a computer is the Network Card, also called a network interface controller (NIC), network adapter or LAN adapter, where LAN means local area network.

When you are on your computer and you want to connect to the internet to send a message, chat or play games, you use the computer's network card.
These days the network card is just part of the computer's motherboard, but a long time ago you had to buy a special card for your computer.

With wifi and cell phones it is very easy now to get on a network and share messages, but it used to be a lot of work!


(from: wikipedia - network interface controller)


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Sound Card

We just learned about the Hard Drive.

Another part of a computer is a Sound Card also called an audio card or audio interface.

When computers were first made, about the only sound they could make was a BEEP sound.
Then later they were able to make different beeps that could make music.

Eventually people wanted to actually play songs or watch shows on their computers and hear actual sounds.
Most old computer motherboards couldn't do that, so people had to buy a thing called a sound card that plugged into a motherboard.

These days most computers can play music and sounds for movies without having an extra card that has to be plugged in, but sometimes professional people that are making music or movies want to have even better sound might still need an extra piece of hardware to make it better.


(from: wikipedia - sound card)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coupling

Hard Drive

We just learned about the Video Card.

Another part of a computer is the Hard Drive, also called a hard disk drive or HDD.

When you are working on the computer and you draw a picture, or write some words that you want to save in a document or spreadsheet, that information has to get saved somewhere on the computer so that it will be there again the next time you turn on the computer.

The hard drive is where the computer saves whatever you give it, whether it's a video, a song, a picture or a document.

Hard drives are usually made up of little magnetic metal discs that spin around almost like music records or CDs.
The computer gets the information from the discs, and puts new information on the discs.

Other types of ways to store files are called Solid State Drives, or SSDs.
These don't have spinning magnets in them, they are more like a big USB memory stick.


(from: wikipedia - hard disk drive)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leading Wheel

Video Card

We just learned about the Memory.

Another part of a computer is the Video Card, also called a graphics card, or display adapter.

The video card is plugged into the motherboard, and takes instructions from the computer and turns them into pictures on the computer monitor.


(from: wikipedia - graphics card)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Driving Wheel

Memory

We just learned about the Processor.

Another part of a computer is Memory.

When a processor is doing the work for a computer, sometimes it needs to a place to keep information while it is doing some work.
Kind of like if you are working on a big math problem, you might need to write down some of the parts of the problem before you are finished with the whole problem.

If you had the problem 10 + 20 + 30 + 40, you might right down the answer for 10 + 20 = 30, and then the answer for 30 + 40 = 60, and then 30 + 60 = 90.
Those middle steps where you have to write down the 30 and the 60 are not part of the math problem and not part of the answer, so they are sort of like middle steps where you need to write down or remember something.

Computer memory kind of works like that, where the processor will have the memory remember some things while it is working on doing something for you.
Memory is sometimes called RAM, and usually looks like rectangular shaped boards with black things stuck on them, that are then plugged into the motherboard.
The computer talks to the memory through the motherboard and gives it the information to save.


(from: wikipedia - computer memory)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leaf Spring

Processor

We just learned about the Motherboard.

Another part of a computer is the Processor, also called a Central Processing Unit or CPU for short.

This is the brain of the computer, that is hooked up to the motherboard.
When you type on the computer or move your mouse, those messages get sent to the motherboard and then the processor.
The processor takes in all of that input and then controls the other parts of the computer like the monitor, speakers, or anything else hooked up to the computer.

When you are doing things on the computer like watching videos or opening websites, the processor is working hard to make all of those programs work on the computer as fast as it can.



(from: wikipedia - central processing unit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blastpipe

Motherboard

We just learned about the Touchpad.

Another part of a computer is the Motherboard.

This is the part inside the computer that all of the other parts are hooked into.
The monitor, keyboard and mouse that we talked about all have cables that go to the computer.
They are plugged into connectors that are all plugged into the motherboard so they can work with each other.

The motherboard is usually made of something hard called resin that has metal like silver, tin, nickel or gold that the motherboard uses to connect all of the parts together with electricity.


(from: wikipedia - motherboard)


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Touchpad

We just learned about the Computer Mouse.

Another part of a computer is the Touchpad or trackpad.

Just like the mouse is used to move around the cursor on the screen, the trackpad on a laptop also moves the mouse around.
This is usually a rectangle shaped box you touch with your finger to move around the mouse, and if you tap it will click the mouse.

There are also other things like mice called trackballs, which are like a little ball you roll around to move the cursor, or a pointing stick, sometimes called trackpoint or nub which is like a joystick poking out from the keyboard.

Touchpad:

(from: wikipedia - touchpad)

Trackball:

(from: wikipedia - trackball)

Pointing Stick:

(from: wikipedia - pointing stick)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Headlight

Computer Mouse

We just learned about the Computer Keyboard Special Keys.

Another part of a computer is the Computer Mouse.

Just like the keyboard, this is part of what you use to tell the computer what you want to do.
It was called a mouse, because it looked like a little mouse with a tail, but lots of computer mice these days don't even have wires.

When you move the computer mouse around, there is a picture on the monitor usually shaped like an arrow called a cursor.
Computer mice usually have 2 buttons, and when you press the button it's called clicking.
If your mouse cursor is pointing at something like a button and you click the left button it will press the button on the screen.
The right button is usually to give you choices for things, like if you want to copy or paste some text just like you would from the keyboard.

Some mice have another spinning button called the scroll wheel that helps scroll things up or down on the monitor.


(from: wikipedia - computer mouse)


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Computer Keyboard - Special Keys

We just learned about the Computer Keyboard - Function Keys.

Another bunch of keys on the computer keyboard are the Special Keys.

We know the keyboard has all of the letters of the alphabet on it, but it also has some special keys that aren't used to type letters or numbers.
These special keys can do things like delete letters, move around the place on the monitor where you are typing, scroll up and down, or even do special things like save or quit.
A lot of the special keys have to do with moving the "cursor".
The cursor is the place on the screen that you are currently working at.
Sometimes it looks like this: | and sometimes it is just something highlighted a different color.
You move around your cursor to type words in different places, or to choose different parts of a program on the screen.

On most keyboards these are the special keys and what they can do:

Esc - This key can either leave or stop a program.
Tab - Can either put a big [   ] space in between a sentence, or it can be used to make different choices in other programs or switch programs.
Backspace - This will get rid of one letter to the left of where you were typing.
Insert - This can turn on "type over" meaning typing new letters will take the place of old ones.
Home - This moves the cursor to the beginning of a text line.
Page Up/Down - This scrolls the window up or down.
Delete - This will get rid of one letter to the right of where you were typing, or it can be used to get rid of files or emails or other things the cursor is selecting.
Shift - If you hold down Shift and type, the letters will be ALL CAPITALS.
Caps Lock - This is like using Shift, but you don't have to hold it down for the letters to BE ALL CAPITALS.
Print Screen - This can take a screenshot of what your monitor looks like that you can save in another program.
Scroll Lock - Some programs use this to change the way they scroll up or down.
Pause/Break - Some programs use this to pause.
Num Lock - If your computer has a number pad, turning this on uses numbers, off uses whatever special options are there.
Ctrl - This is a key used with others to do special tasks.
These special tasks work with most programs: Ctrl+A = Select all, Ctrl+B = bold, Ctrl+C = Copy, Ctrl+F = Find, Ctrl+I = italics Ctrl+N = New, Ctrl+O = Open, Ctrl+P = Print, Ctrl+S = Save, Ctrl+U = underline, Ctrl+V = Paste, Ctrl+X = Cut, Ctrl+Z = Undo.
Alt - Use the menus at the top of the program, like Alt+F usually opens the File menu.
[Windows] - The key that looks like 4 boxes is the windows key that opens the menu for programs.
Arrows - Arrow keys help move the cursor around on the page.


(from: wikipedia - computer keyboard)


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Computer Keyboard - Function Keys

We just learned about the Computer Keyboard.

Another part of a computer is the Computer Keyboard - Function Keys.

If you look on the top row of the computer keyboard, you should see the function keys that look like F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12
Those are called the "Function Keys", and they can do special things on the computer.

Depending on if you are watching videos on the internet or checking your email, these function keys can do different things.
Some of the keys are the same for all computer programs, like the F1 key almost always opens up the Help, and F3 is usually to find things.
On some keyboards you have to hold down a "Fn" key in order to use the function key.
For those keybarods the function keys can have other jobs like changing the computer volume, the screen brightness, or turning off wifi.

The most used function keys are: F1 - Usually brings up a help message to try and show you what to do.
F2 - Edit, like if you want to change the name of a file on the computer.
F3 - Search for some text on a page or in a file.
F4 - If you hold down Ctrl and press F4 it will close a tab. If you hold down Alt and press F4 it will close a window.
F5 - Usually refreshes what you are looking at, so if you have your email open it might check for new mail.
F10 - If you hold down shift and press F10 it will act like a mouse right-click
F11 - Switch to full screen mode

The other function keys are usually different for each program.


(from: wikipedia - function key)


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Computer Keyboard

We just learned about the Video Cable and the way a computer monitor works.

Another part of the computer is the Keyboard.

Before there were computers, people used to use typewriters to put letters on paper with ink.
When computers were made for people to put letters on the computer monitor, people made electronic keyboards that looked like the typewriters.
On a computer keyboard, when you press down on a key there it pushes down on a button that sends an electrical message to the computer telling you which key was pressed.
It's almost like your keyboard is made up of hundreds of little light switches and when you press one it turns a light on.

Most computers these days have letters in the "QWERTY" order, meaning that the letters are set up in the order where the letters are like:
1234567890
QWERTYUIOP
ASDFGHJKL
ZXCVBNM

The QWERTY keyboard style was invented back in 1874 when someone came up with the idea to put the letters in that order.
There are a lot of stories saying that it was to make sure typewriter machines didn't jam up, or to make people type faster, but nobody is really sure exactly why the computer keyboard doesn't go in alphabeitcal ABC order.

Other people have come up with keyboards that help people type faster, but because people had already learned how to type on QWERTY keyboards they have never changed.


(from: wikipedia - computer keyboard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Firebox

Video Cable

We just learned about the Display - Refresh Rate.

Another part of the monitor is the Video Cable, or display cable.

This is one of the wires that comes out of the back of the monitor and goes to the computer.
The cable will send messages from the computer to the monitor to tell it what pictures to show on the screen.
If the computer is a laptop, then the monitor is connected right to the computer and it won't have a video cable outside the laptop.

Through the years since the monitors have gotten better at showing picturs, the cables have had to changes so they could keep up with the better pictures.

One of the first cables that was very popular was called the VGA cable, where VGA means Video Graphics Array.
This cable had 15 wires in it that the computer used to send the pictures that would go on the monitor.

Later on people wanted to make better pictures with the monitors so they came up with better cabels that could send more information faster to the monitor.
There are a few different types right now that people can get, but one of the most popular is called HDMI, which means High-Definition Multimedia Interface.
HDMI cables can come in different sizes like standard, mini and micro.


(from: wikipedia - vga connector)

(from: wikipedia - hdmi)


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Display Refresh Rate

We just learned about the Display Resolution.

Another part of a computer monitor is the Display Refresh Rate.

When the computer screen is playing a video, or opening up a web page or showing something on the screen, it has to re-draw the screen for that picture very fast so that your eyes don't notice that it is changing, and so that it just looks like a real picture.

In old computers, the screen was drawn fresh every time starting from the top left, and going row by row from the top to the bottom.
Newer computers with LCD and LED monitors have smarter ways to redraw just some parts of the screen, but they still can only "refresh" the image on the page at a certain speed.

The speed that the screen can change and show a new image is called the Refresh Rate.
Our human eyes can only really tell if something is flickering if it is changing less than about 60 times per second.
If you think of that like a paper flip book showing an animation, you can usually see the flicker for those.
But if they were flipping so fast you couldn't tell, it would just look like an animated cartoon.

60 times per second is called the frequency, and is also the same as saying 60 Hertz or 60 Hz because Hertz means "per second".
Most monitors these days have a refresh rate of at least 60 Hz.


(from: wikipedia - refresh rate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Piston Rod

Display Resolution

We just learned about the Pixel.

Another part of how a monitor works is the Display Resolution.

We learned that a pixel is a picture element that helps draw a picture on the computer screen.
When you are looking at the computer, the picture will look more like a real life image depending on the pixel size, monitor size, and colors you can use.

If you have a normal sized computer monitor but you can only fit 100 pixels across and 100 pixels down, that makes for 10,000 pixels.
That seems like a lot, but computers these days usually show anything from 480,000 pixels on one screen to over 2 million pixels on one screen!
You can have the same size monitor but switch between low resolution (bigger pixels) and high resolution (small pixels) to fit in as many as you can on the screen.

In the first computers, colors were really only white or black, or sometimes green or black.
Some of the first computers made just for video games like the Atari could use 256 colors.
That might seem like a lot, but the computers today can use about 16 million different colors!


(from: wikipedia - display resolution)


(from: wikipedia - list of video game console palettes)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coupling Rod

Pixel

We just learned about the Computer Monitor.

Another part of a computer monitor is a Pixel.

The picture that you see on a computer monitor is made up of thousands or millions of little dots that can change color to show different pictures.
Each one of these tiny dots is called a pixel, which is short for "picture element".

On some old computers monitors, the pixels were big and looked like little squares or blocks used to make pictures.
Now the pixels are so tiny they can show pictures on computer monitors showing people and places that look just like the real thing.


(from: wikipedia - pixel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Brake Shoe