EXAM QUESTIONS - MEMORY /

STORAGE

EXAMPLE QUESTION 1

11

(a) Question 11 (a) requires you to show your knowledge of

optical memory. Here you must tick each row to identify the
features that 4 different types of disks have.

Answers

(b)
(i) Question (b) (i) is essentially asking you to explain why
SSD is better than HDD. Each of the following points would
get you a mark (Max 3)

Answers

1. They do not need to get up to speed to work properly /

No latency
2. Less power consumption / More energy efficient
3. Run cooler
4. run quieter
5. Data access is faster
6. Occupies less physical space - more compact
7. Lighter, so suitable for portable computer / laptop
8. No moving parts so more reliable / durable in a portable
computer / laptop

(ii) Question (b) (ii) asks you to explain why server farms
might still use HDDs over SSDs. Each of the following points
would be worth 1 mark each (Max 2)

Answers

1. HDD is cheaper for larger amounts of storage space

2. HDD has greater longevity for read / write functions
3. Expensive to change technology / HDD is trusted
technology
4. No requirement for the increased speed of SSD

EXAMPLE QUESTION 2

10

Question 10 requires you to demonstrate your knowledge of

memory / storage by reading a description on naming the
device being described.

Answers

EXAMPLE QUESTION 3



13

(a) This question requires you to give an explanation of

Primary, secondary and Offline storage. You are also
expected to provide an example of each. 1 mark is provided
for each explanation and 1 mark is provided for each example.

Answers
Primary storage
Explanation - Main memory inside a computer that is directly
accessed by the CPU
Example - ROM / RAM

Secondary storage
Explanation - Non-volatile / persistent memory that is
accessed by a device that is part of computer system . not
directly accessed by the CPU.
Example - HDD / SSD

Off-line storage
Explanation - Non-volatile memory that can be removed from
a computer system
Example - DVD / Blue-ray/ Cd / USB flash memory /
Removable or external HDD or SSD

(b)

Answers


EXAMPLE QUESTION 4

Question 6 does not just contain memory terms but also two
components of the CPU. It is a good example of how terms
from different topics can be mixed together.

In this question you need to match the terms to the

descriptions. Each term may connect to more than one
description but each description will only connect to one term.

Answers







EXAMPLE QUESTION 5



5

Question 5 is a very generous 10 mark question that requires

you to read 5 descriptions of storage devices, name them and
then state what categories of storage they are.

Answers



EXAMPLE QUESTION 6

Question 2 is testing your understanding of the terms Primary,

Secondary and Offline storage. You are given a list of 6
storage mediums and you need to write which storage
category they are.

1 mark per storage device / medium

Answers

HDD = Secondary
RAM = Primary
ROM = Primary
CD - Rom = Off Line
SSD = Secondary
DVD - RAM = Off Line

EXAMPLE QUESTION 7






8

(a) Question 8 (a) tells you that a computer has 2048 MB of

RAM and then asks how many Gigabytes it has.
To answer this correctly you need to know that 1 Gigabyte =
1024 megabytes.

2048 / 1024 = 2
Answer
2 Gigabytes (GB)

(b) Question 8 b asks you to describe one item that is stored

in RAM

Answer
Instructions / Programs / Data that are currently in use

(c) For question 8 (c) you need to explain the difference

between RAM and ROM. As it is a three mark question you
should give at least three points.

Answers

• RAM is Volatile, ROM is non-volatile

• RAM is temporary, ROM is (semi) permanent
• RAM normally has a larger capacity that ROM

EXAMPLE QUESTION 8

(a) Question 9 (a) tests your knowledge of optical media by

asking how data is read from a Compact Disk (CD)
4 marks are available here. Each of the following points are
worth one mark.

Answers

• (red) laser is used

• laser beams) shines onto the surface of the disk)
• It is rotated at a constant speed to be read
• Surface is covered in a track (That spirals from the
center)
• Data is represented on the surface using pits and lands
• Pits and lands represent binary values
• Pits reflect light back differently (to the area between/
land)

EXAMPLE QUESTION 9

(c)

(i) Question (c)(i) asks you to circle the most suitable type of
storage for a camera attached to a drone.

Answer
Solid State
(ii) Part (ii) now asks you to explain why solid state memory
was the most suitable choice. This question is worth 2 marks
so two points should be given.

Each of the following points are worth 1 mark (2 marks)

Answer

• It has no moving parts so it will be durable

• It is small / compact so it can be easily fit onto the device
• It is light so it will not be difficult to lift for the drone
• It can hold the large amount of data needed for video /
film footage

EXAMPLE QUESTION 10