GCSEComputer ScienceEdexcelExam Questions3. ComputersHardware

Hardware (Edexcel GCSE Computer Science): Exam Questions

Exam code: 1CP2

20 mins5 questions
1a2 marks

Parking at an airport is controlled by computers.

No paper tickets are issued.

Here is an image of the control system at the exit.

Car park barrier gate arm closed, flanked by two bollards on a brick-paved driveway. Speed bump visible in the foreground.

The control system uses sensors, a camera and a database.

The barrier lifts if the parking fee has been paid.

Describe what the system does when the exit sensor is activated by a car driving towards it.

How did you do?

1b3 marks

The components of a computer carry out the fetch‑decode‑execute cycle.

Complete the diagram with:

• the names of two buses

• a directional connection from the clock to the correct component.

Diagram of a computer system showing RAM, Clock, and CPU with Control Unit, connected by control and data buses using arrows.

How did you do?

22 marks

Robots use sensors to collect data about their surroundings in order to carry out actions independently.

Explain one way that a modern car is a robot.

How did you do?

34 marks

The CPU contains a number of components.

(i) Complete the table with the correct bus for each role.

(3)

Bus

Role

Carries a read signal to main memory.

Carries the memory location of a piece of data.

Carries an instruction from main memory to the CPU.

(ii) Identify the component inside the CPU that stores data.

(1)

  • Arithmetic logic unit

  • Clock

  • Main memory

  • Register

Choose your answer

4a1 mark

Identify the feature of an optical disc that allows data to be read.

  • It is magnetic

  • It is portable

  • It is reflective

  • It is volatile

Choose your answer

4b1 mark

Define the term ‘embedded system’.

How did you do?

5a2 marks

State the two items held in RAM according to the von Neumann architecture.

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5b3 marks

Data can be stored in different ways.

(i) Describe how data is stored on optical media.

(2)

(ii) State the type of secondary storage that stores data as electric charges.

(1)

How did you do?

5c2 marks

An embedded computer system is part of a larger machine.

State two characteristics of embedded systems that make them different from general purpose computers.

How did you do?