Effects of Using IT (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE ICT): Exam Questions

A glasshouse is used to grow plants and is computer controlled.

Name three sensors which could be used in this glasshouse

When using computers people can suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

Describe the term RSI.

Include in your answer the causes of RSI.

A river authority is concerned about levels of pollution in a major river.

The quality of the water in the river needs to be monitored using sensors.

Name three sensors that could be used to measure the pollution in the river.

Eye strain is one of the health issues associated with using computers.

Explain three causes of eye strain when using computers.

A road through a village has a speed limit of 45 kilometres per hour. The police are checking and recording the speed of vehicles passing through the village using measuring hardware and software, so they can produce a report of their findings.

Describe the role of the microprocessor in this scenario.

Describe the advantages, to both the company and employees, of changing work patterns due to the introduction of computers.

An organisation has provided laptops for its sales team to use when working at home and in the office.

The employees are given a list of strategies to follow to reduce the health risks of using laptops.

State four strategies that could be included in the list.

An autonomous vehicle uses an automated braking system.

There is a sensor at the front of the vehicle to measure the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle.

The brakes are applied when the vehicle gets too close to the obstacle.

Describe the use of a microprocessor in the automated braking system.

Cars can have sensors at the front and rear of the vehicle to detect obstacles.

Describe how the sensor detects an obstacle and sends the data to the microprocessor when parking the car.

An automatic vacuum cleaner uses sensors to detect obstacles. If the vacuum cleaner is too close to the obstacle, it stops and automatically changes direction.

Describe the drawbacks of using this type of control system.

A river authority is concerned about levels of pollution in a major river. The quality of the water in the river needs to be monitored using sensors.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using computers to measure the pollution in the river rather than humans measuring the pollution.

The prolonged use of computers can cause several health problems particularly when sitting down and using monitors.

Discuss the strategies that you have developed to minimise health risks which only relate to sitting down and using a monitor.

As a student you often use a computer screen. This could be a screen on a desktop computer, a laptop computer or even a smartphone.

Evaluate your use of computer screens, in terms of health risks, and explain any strategies you use to minimise these health risks.

Robots are used to spray paint cars in a car production company.

When the spray paint can is empty it needs to be refilled. There is a sensor in the can which measures the amount of paint.

Describe the use of the sensor and microprocessor in this application

As a student you often use a computer keyboard. This could be a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard on a desktop computer, a laptop computer or even a smartphone.

Evaluate your use of computer keyboards in terms of health risks, and explain any strategies you use to minimise these health risks.

Humans can send unmanned aircraft into storms to collect wind speeds and temperature data. The unmanned aircraft have sensors attached to them which send the data back to computers at the weather station. The computers analyse the data.

Previously the aircraft was manned and all the data was collected and flown back to the weather station.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the unmanned aircraft rather than using the manned aircraft.

The developer spends a great deal of time using a computer.

For each of the statements given, identify a health problem and describe a possible solution.

Your answers must be different in each case.

Vehicles can contain microprocessor controlled devices to improve transport safety. For example when a vehicle approaches a road speed sign the microprocessor sends an alert to the driver.

Discuss the positive and negative effects of using microprocessor controlled devices in transport safety.