Hardware and

software
 Learning objectives
C/D define hardware, identifying internal and
external hardware devices

B/C identify the two types of software – applications

software and system software

A/B define different applications and system

software
 What is hardware?
Hardware is the physical parts of the computer system, the parts
that you can see and touch. For example the motherboard, CPU,
keyboard and a monitor are all items of hardware.
You have internal and external hardware, internal being inside the
tower and carry out important roles and external on the outside,
that connect to the computer which make our experiences easier or
better.

Write your own definition of internal

and external then find as many different
examples of hardware as you can. Use
images and paste onto a word document
 Internal hardware
Make sure you have identified the following internal hardware devices:
• processor
• motherboards
• random access memory - RAM
• read-only memory - ROM
• video cards
• sound cards
• internal hard disk drives

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/inside-computer.htm
 External hardware
Make sure you have identified the following external hardware devices:
• monitors
• keyboards
• mice
• printers as input and output devices
• external storage devices in general

A peripheral is any hardware device which connects to the computer

which is not actually needed for the computer to work. (everything that
is attached to the computer’s case, plugged in)
 What is software?
Software is a collection of instructions that can be run on a
computer. These instructions tell the computer what to do. Software
is not a physical thing (but it can of course be stored on a physical
medium such as a CD-ROM), it is just a bunch of codes.
An operating system such as Windows XP, applications such as
Microsoft Word, and the instructions that control a robot are all
examples of software. There are two main types of software:
• system
• application

When referring to applications software it is better if you

can describe what the software does rather than just
knowing the names. No marks will be awarded for using
brand names only
 Application software
Applications software lets you do your day to day tasks on the
computer. Everyday programs that you use to produce something
useful. Good examples are:
• word processing
• spreadsheet
• database management systems
• control software
• measuring software
• applets and apps
• photo and video editing
• graphics manipulation
 System software
System software is essential to keep the computer working, examples
of this are:
• compilers
• linkers
• device drivers
• operating system
• utilities

Using the list above, find out what each item does in the
computer
 Application or system?
Create and complete the following table by deciding whether the
listed software is either applications or system software and give a
description of what it does.

Software for… App or System What does it do?

Word processing Application Create letters
Anti-virus software
Spreadsheet
Operating system
Internet browser
Photo editing software
File manager
Scratch
Printer driver
 Review and revise
1.1 hardware and software

• define hardware as consisting of physical components of a computer

system
• identify internal hardware devices (e.g. processor, motherboards,
random access memory, read-only memory, video cards, sound cards
and internal hard disk drives)
• identify external hardware devices and peripherals (such as monitors,
keyboards, mice, printers as input and output devices and external
storage devices in general)
• define software as programs for controlling the operation of a
computer or processing of electronic data
• identify the two types of software – applications software and system
software
• define applications software (e.g. word processing, spreadsheet,
database management systems, control software, measuring
software, applets and apps, photo editing software, video editing
software, graphics manipulation software)
• define system software (e.g. compilers, linkers, device drivers,
operating systems and utilities)