Computer Fundamentals & History MCQs With Answers
Every computer paper begins with the basics, and these questions are the easiest marks to secure. These computer fundamentals and history MCQs cover Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing, ENIAC and the five generations of computers from vacuum tubes and transistors to integrated circuits and microprocessors, types of computers such as supercomputers, mainframes, desktops, laptops and tablets, hardware versus software, the binary, decimal and hexadecimal number systems, bits, nibbles, bytes, kilobytes, gigabytes and terabytes, 2's complement, logic gates such as AND, OR, NOT and XOR, and character codes like ASCII and Unicode. They suit PPSC, FPSC, NTS and computer operator tests.
Take a scored quiz instead →Which error-checking code uses extra parity bits inserted at specific positions to detect and correct single-bit memory errors?
Hamming Code is an error-correcting code (ECC) that detects up to two-bit errors or corrects single-bit errors by placing parity bits at power-of-two bit positions (1, 2, 4, 8, etc.). CRC is widely used for error detection in networks.
What is the decimal equivalent of the 8-bit binary number 10101000₂?
Convert binary 10101000₂ to decimal: (1×2⁷) + (0×2⁶) + (1×2⁵) + (0×2⁴) + (1×2³) + (0×2²) + (0×2¹) + (0×2⁰) = 128 + 0 + 32 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 168.
What is the 2’s complement representation of the decimal number -5 using an 8-bit signed binary format?
To find -5 in 8-bit 2's complement: 1) Write +5 in binary: 00000101. 2) Invert all bits (1's complement): 11111010. 3) Add 1: 11111010 + 1 = 11111011.
What mathematical law describes the empirical observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years?
Gordon Moore (co-founder of Intel) formulated Moore's Law in 1965, postulating that transistor density on integrated circuits doubles roughly every two years. Amdahl's Law models parallel computing speedup.
What is the storage capacity equivalent of 1 Gigabyte (GB)?
In binary computer storage hierarchy: 1 Byte = 8 Bits, 1 KB = 1024 Bytes, 1 MB = 1024 KB, 1 GB = 1024 MB, and 1 TB = 1024 GB.
Which electronic component was used as the primary processing element in First-Generation computers (1940s–1950s)?
First-generation computers (like ENIAC and UNIVAC) used Vacuum Tubes for circuitry and processing logic. Second generation used Transistors, Third used Integrated Circuits (ICs), and Fourth used Microprocessors.
Who is historically recognized as the ‘Father of Modern Computer’ for inventing the concept of the programmable Analytical Engine?
Charles Babbage, a 19th-century English mathematician, designed the Analytical Engine and Difference Engine, laying down foundational principles of modern mechanical and digital computing.
Which type of computer is designed specifically for processing massive volumes of critical data for large organizations like weather forecasting and scientific simulations?
Supercomputers are extremely high-performance computers capable of executing billions or trillions of calculations per second, used in climate research, military defense, molecular modeling, and space physics.
What is the smallest unit of digital data in a computer system?
A Bit (short for Binary Digit) is the basic unit of information in computing, representing a single binary value of either 0 or 1. A Nibble consists of 4 Bits, and a Byte consists of 8 Bits.
Which file extension denotes a Portable Document Format file created by Adobe for cross-platform document viewing?
The '.pdf' extension stands for Portable Document Format. Developed by Adobe, PDF files preserve document layout, fonts, and graphics across different hardware and operating systems.
How many bits are in a single Byte?
A Byte consists of 8 contiguous binary digits (bits). In computer architecture, a byte is the standard fundamental unit of storage required to store a single ASCII text character (such as 'A' or '7').
In computer terminology, a group of 4 bits is commonly known as a:
A Nibble is a 4-bit aggregation, equal to half an 8-bit byte. Nibbles are particularly relevant in hexadecimal notation, where each hexadecimal digit (0-F) corresponds directly to one 4-bit nibble.
How many Bytes are in one Kilobyte (KB) in binary standard measurement?
In binary measurement (Base-2), 1 Kilobyte (KB) equals 2^10 = 1,024 Bytes. While decimal standards (SI) define kilo as 1,000, binary memory indexing uses powers of 2, making 1 KB equal to 1,024 Bytes (or 1 Kibibyte / KiB).
Which computer numbering system uses only two digits, 0 and 1?
The Binary system is a Base-2 numbering system that uses only two digits: 0 and 1 (representing OFF and ON electrical states in digital transistors). All digital computers process and compute data internally using binary logic.
The Hexadecimal numbering system is based on which base number?
The Hexadecimal system is a Base-16 numbering system. It uses digits 0-9 to represent values zero to nine, and letters A-F to represent values ten to fifteen. It is widely used in computing for memory address display and HTML color codes (e.g. #FFFFFF).
Which open-source operating system kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991?
Linux is an open-source Unix-like operating system kernel created by Finnish computer science student Linus Torvalds in September 1991. Today, Linux powers the vast majority of web servers, supercomputers, Android devices, and cloud infrastructure.
Who is widely regarded as the ‘Father of Computer Science’ and AI for his theoretical foundational work?
Alan Turing (1912–1954) was a British mathematician and logician widely regarded as the father of theoretical computer science and AI. He conceptualized the Turing Machine (1936), cracked the Enigma code at Bletchley Park during WWII, and introduced the 'Turing Test' for machine intelligence.
Who is historical acknowledged as the world’s first computer programmer for writing an algorithm for Babbage’s engine?
Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was an English mathematician who worked with Charles Babbage. In 1843, she published an algorithm intended for execution on Babbage's Analytical Engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers, making her the world's first computer programmer.
Which type of computer is designed to be small enough to carry and use on the go?
- A laptop is a portable computer designed to be carried and used anywhere.
- It combines the screen, keyboard, and processor in one unit.
- Laptops run on a rechargeable battery.
Which type of computer usually stays in one place and has separate parts, like a monitor and tower?
- A desktop computer has separate parts, like a monitor, keyboard, and tower.
- It usually stays in one place, such as an office desk.
- Desktops are often more powerful than laptops for the same price.
Which type of computer is designed for touch input and is thinner than a laptop?
- A tablet is a thin, touch-based computer without a physical keyboard.
- It is generally smaller and lighter than a laptop.
- Tablets are commonly used for browsing and reading.
Which unit of storage is larger: a gigabyte or a terabyte?
- A terabyte is larger than a gigabyte.
- One terabyte equals about 1,024 gigabytes.
- Terabytes are commonly used to describe hard disk capacity.
Approximately which year did the first electronic computer, ENIAC, become operational?
- ENIAC became operational in 1945.
- It was one of the earliest electronic computers.
- ENIAC was very large and filled an entire room.
Which company created the iPhone?
- Apple created the iPhone, first released in 2007.
- It combined a phone, music player, and internet device.
- The iPhone helped shape the modern smartphone industry.
What is the general term for physical computer parts you can touch, such as the keyboard or CPU?
- Hardware refers to the physical parts of a computer.
- Examples include the keyboard, CPU, and monitor.
- Software refers to the programs that run on hardware.
What is the general term for programs and instructions that run on a computer, unlike physical parts?
- Software refers to programs and instructions that run on a computer.
- It cannot be physically touched, unlike hardware.
- Examples include an operating system and applications.
Which of the following is an example of a wearable computing device?
- A smartwatch is an example of wearable computing technology.
- It connects to the internet and tracks data like steps or heart rate.
- Wearables are a growing category of connected devices.
Which generation of computers first used transistors instead of vacuum tubes?
- The second generation of computers used transistors.
- Transistors made computers smaller and more reliable.
- This replaced the vacuum tubes used in the first generation.
Which generation of computers introduced integrated circuits, or microchips?
- The third generation of computers introduced integrated circuits.
- These combined many components onto a single chip.
- This made computers smaller and more reliable.
Which generation of computers introduced the microprocessor, enabling personal computers?
- The fourth generation introduced the microprocessor.
- This made personal computers affordable and practical.
- Most computers used today belong to this generation.
Which company is the current parent company of Facebook?
Facebook was launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates. In October 2021 its parent company, Facebook Inc., renamed itself Meta Platforms.
Meta also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.
Which company owns the Google search engine as its parent company?
- Google's parent company is Alphabet Inc.
- Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
- Google began as a search engine in 1998.
The ‘binary’ system uses which two digits?
• Binary is the base-2 number system fundamental to computing.
• Each digit is called a bit (binary digit).
• All data in a computer is represented as a sequence of bits.
Which logic gate outputs ‘1’ only if all inputs are ‘1’?
• The AND gate performs logical conjunction.
• If any input is 0, the output is 0.
• It is fundamental to CPU logic circuits.
What is a ‘Mainframe’ computer?
• Mainframes are designed for high reliability and massive throughput.
• They are used by banks, airlines, and government agencies.
• They can handle millions of concurrent transactions.
What does ‘ASCII’ stand for?
• ASCII defines numeric codes for characters (letters, numbers, symbols).
• It uses 7 bits per character.
• Unicode is the modern standard that replaces ASCII.
Which logic gate outputs 1 if any input is 1?
• The OR gate performs logical disjunction.
• The output is 0 only if all inputs are 0.
• It is essential for building complex digital logic circuits.
Which character encoding supports all world languages?
• Unicode provides a unique number for every character, regardless of platform or language.
• UTF-8 is the most common encoding for Unicode.
• It has largely replaced older, restricted encodings like ASCII.
Which logic gate gives an output of 1 if inputs are different?
• The Exclusive-OR (XOR) gate is vital for addition circuits.
• Output is 1 only if one input is 1 and the other is 0.
• It is widely used in error detection and cryptography.
Which logic gate is known as the ‘Inverter’?
• The NOT gate takes one input and flips the logic (0→1, 1→0).
• It is the simplest logic gate.
• It is crucial for building more complex functions.
What is ‘ASCII’?
• ASCII maps characters to numbers (0-127).
• Used for English and basic symbols.
• Replaced largely by Unicode in modern times.