Data Representation (SQA National 5 Computing Science): Exam Questions

A vector graphics package is used to create a floor plan for a house as shown below.

State the object used to create the outline of the sink.

The line thickness and line colour are attributes of the lines used to draw the outside walls.

State one other attribute of these lines.

A spelling game stores 20 words. Each word has an accompanying sound file where an actor’s voice speaks the word.

When the game is running the program repeats the following 20 times:

• selects one of the 20 words

• loads a sound file matching the selected word

• plays the sound file through a speaker

• asks the user to type in the word

• compares the user’s entry to the stored word

• informs the user if they have spelled the word correctly.

When the game is over the program displays the total number of words that have been spelled correctly by the user.

The first stored word is

Animal

State the number of bits required to store this word using extended ASCII.

A company runs a sightseeing trip around Iron Craig Island each Saturday and Sunday. Their boat can hold 100 passengers.

Every weekend the available tickets are numbered as follows.

A program is being developed to:

• allow the company to check the validity of each passenger’s ticket as they board the boat

• calculate and display the total number of the passengers on each trip.

The program design is shown below.

Tickets include a bit-mapped graphic.

Describe how a bit-mapped graphic is represented in a computer system’s memory.

A leaderboard shows teams and their scores.

A computer system stores the scores as binary numbers.

Convert the denary number 79 to an 8‑bit binary number.

A computer system stores the team names using extended ASCII code.

Calculate the number of bits required to store the team name:

Par Tee

Identify the mantissa and exponent in the floating‑point representation below.

0.127 × 10²

The photograph below is stored in a computer system as an array of pixels.

State the graphic representation used to store this photograph.

Luna Life is a company that creates animations.

The company logo shown below is stored as a vector graphic.

Identify the object used to make this logo and one of its attributes.

Convert the denary number 105 into 8‑bit binary.

Mateo is planning a cycling trip around Italy. The route he is planning is 1856.3 kilometers. This value would be stored in a computer system using ‘floating‑point representation’ as shown below.

0.18563 × 10⁴

Identify the mantissa and exponent in the above floating‑point representation.

State how many extended ASCII text characters can be stored using 80 bits.

A campsite booking system is being developed to calculate the cost of a stay at £35 per night, per person. The cost will be displayed to the user before they confirm the booking. The system will ask users for their name, number of people, arrival date and length of stay.

A map of the campsite is stored as a bit‑mapped graphic.

Describe how this map is represented in a computer system’s memory.

The logo below is stored as a vector graphic.

A polygon is one object used in this logo.

State two attributes of this object.

State the name of one other object used in this logo.

WordSmart is a computer game where players are shown a definition of a word and are asked to enter the word being described.

A player enters the answer:

SERVER

(i) State how many bits would be required to store the player’s answer using extended ASCII code.

[1]

(ii)

State the part of the processor used to temporarily store the answer.

[1]

A window replacement company employs a programmer to write a program that calculates how much it will cost to fit triple glazed windows.

Small windows cost £299.99 and large windows cost £499.99 to replace.

The algorithm to calculate the cost is shown below.

• Set totalCost to 0

• Ask for number of rooms

• Loop through the number of rooms

• Ask for the number of small windows

• Ask for the number of large windows

• Calculate and update totalCost

• End loop

• Display totalCost

A hotel wants to replace 114 windows.

Convert this denary number to 8-bit binary.

. A 9-hole golf course is introducing an app to replace paper scorecards. The total score is the number of times the player hits the ball to complete all 9 holes.

Below is an example of a paper scorecard that a player has filled in.

The app uses the following bit-mapped graphic.

Describe how a bit-mapped graphic is represented in a computer system’s memory

A communications company uses a program to calculate a customer’s average data usage over a 12-month period.

An example of a customer’s monthly data usage in gigabytes (GB) is shown below.

The data usage for the customer in May is 35.7 GB. This value would be stored in a computer system using floating-point representation as shown below.

0.357 × 10²

Identify the mantissa and exponent in the above floating-point representation.

Convert the decimal number 60 into 8-bit binary.

The cruising speed of an aeroplane is 891.6 kilometres per hour. This value would be stored in a computer system using floating-point representation as shown below.

0·8916 × 10³

Identify the mantissa and exponent in the above floating-point representation.

A graphic designer creates a business card for a taxi company.

State the name of a graphical object used in this design and one attribute of that object that can be altered by the graphic designer.

A program is being designed to allow users to search for properties for sale.

A username and password are added to allow users to save searches.

Part of the code is shown below.

(i) A user enters the password below.

GRK_0183_J

State how many bits would be required to store the password using extended ASCII code.

[1]

(ii) Line 11 should have used AND instead of OR.

State the type of error that using OR would cause when the program is executed.

[1]

Sam is creating a program to calculate and display the total cost of laying new flooring. Flooring is charged at £15 per square meter and skirting boards are charged at £60 per room.

The total cost is calculated by multiplying the total floor area by 15, then adding the number of rooms requiring skirting multiplied by 60.

Sam takes pictures of floor layouts using a tablet device.

(i) The images are stored as bit-mapped graphics. Describe how a bit-mapped graphic would be stored.

[2]

(ii) Describe one way that Sam could reduce the energy consumption of the tablet.

[1]