Introduction to Computer Hardware and Natural Sciences
Computer Hardware
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The microprocessor reads data, executes instructions, and writes results. That is its function. You can monitor its temperature with heat sinks.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
RAM is a set of circuits, a place to write, change, and delete data, instructions, and results of operations. It is like the CPU’s whiteboard. It writes and reads data. However, the storage is temporary because RAM is empty at shutdown. In essence, the memory stores data and instructions.
Graphics Card
The graphics card converts digital signals into pixels.
Sound Card
The sound card converts digital signals into sounds.
Ports
Ports are for connecting peripherals (including other computers) to a computer.
A peripheral is any device that addresses a need (performs a specific function) connected to a computer via its ports.
Storage Devices
Storage devices store data permanently.
Motherboard
The motherboard connects and regulates computer components. That is its function. It includes the BIOS, bus, chipset, power supply, and battery.
Internet
The internet (network) is a system of cables that allows computers to connect. It is decentralized, meaning there isn’t one central controlling computer.
IP Addresses
IP addresses identify computers connected to the internet. These are lists of numbers provided by internet service providers, but you see them as computer names (e.g., http://www.juntadenadalucia.es).
Communication Protocols
Communication protocols are the languages computers use to communicate. Common protocols include TCP/IP and HTTP, which enables web browsing.
Natural Sciences
The Universe
The Big Bang Theory
According to the Big Bang theory, all energy, space, and time were initially concentrated in a single point of enormous density and temperature. This point was unstable and exploded. As it cooled and expanded, it formed matter (atoms). In some areas, matter accumulated, giving rise to galaxies and then stars.
Types of Star Clusters
The universe comprises trillions of clusters of stars, including:
- Galaxies: clusters of stars with planetary systems.
- Nebulae: concentrations of gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) and dust.
- Star clusters: clusters of nearby stars, which can be:
- Globular clusters: if they are very dense.
- Open clusters: if they are not very dense. They are located inside galaxies.
Formula 1. Sphere Surface Area
The surface area of a sphere is 4 x π x r2
Formula 2. Sphere Volume
The volume of a sphere is 4/3 x π x r3
The Earth
The Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the gaseous layer of the Earth.
It’s vast, but only its lower part, the troposphere, closest to the Earth’s solid surface, contains the air we breathe.
It protects us from harmful solar radiation. These radiations are absorbed in the outer part of the atmosphere and the ozone layer.
In the troposphere, temperature and pressure variations cause different weather phenomena:
- Anticyclones: high-pressure areas associated with good and stable weather.
- Storms: low-pressure areas associated with bad and unstable weather.
On weather maps, pressures are represented by isobars, lines connecting points of equal pressure.
The Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is the liquid layer of the Earth.
It occupies most of the Earth’s surface and consists of the water in oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, etc.
It is constantly renewed through the water cycle: water evaporates, rises into the atmosphere where it cools and condenses into clouds, and falls back to the planet’s surface, eventually reaching the seas and oceans.
Seas and oceans contain almost all the water in the hydrosphere. Their floors have varied relief (mountains, valleys, plains, etc.). Several important phenomena occur in seas and oceans:
- Ocean currents: large movements of water bodies from one area to another due to differences in density, temperature, etc., between different areas.
- They help soften and stabilize global temperatures by distributing the heat received from the sun.
- Tides: caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and, primarily, the Moon on Earth.
- High tides (high tide) coincide with the full and new moon phases.
- Low tides (low tide) coincide with the first and third quarter moon phases.
- Waves: circular motions of water bodies without net movement. When they reach the coast, the circular motion breaks, and the wave hits the cliff or slides onto the beach.
- Waves sculpt the coast, trying to align it by filling inlets and eroding protrusions.
The Geosphere
The geosphere is the solid part of the Earth.
We know the surface directly, but to understand the interior, we rely on indirect methods:
- The behavior of seismic waves produced by earthquakes, recorded by seismographs.
- The study of meteorites.
These methods suggest that the Earth has an internal structure composed of layers:
- Crust: superficial, thin, rocky, rigid, low density (light).
- Mantle: reaches 3,000 km depth. Rocky, not rigid, and higher density than the crust.
- Core: from 3,000 to 6,370 km. Metallic, very dense, with a liquid outer zone and a solid inner zone.
The Biosphere
The biosphere is the living part of the Earth.
Scientists believe that life originated about 3 billion years ago when oceans existed, and there was abundant energy available on Earth.
Among the countless chemical reactions possible in such an energy-rich environment, an individual could have been enclosed in a membrane, capable of dividing and nourishing itself: a protocell.
The first individuals reproduced asexually, simply dividing into two new individuals identical to the parent.
About 2 billion years later, sexual reproduction emerged, requiring two parents. The offspring were not identical but similar to their parents, leading to evolutionary advancement.
Life emerged from the sea but eventually colonized all other environments.
The vast number of different species requires classification to establish relationships between them and understand them. Currently, there are five kingdoms:
- Bacteria
- Protists
- Fungi
- Plants
- Animals