Computer Basics Quiz: Hardware, Memory, Internet & Abbreviations

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. One byte is made up of how many bits?

   • 4 bits
   • 8 bits
   • 16 bits
   • 1,024 bits

   Answer: 8 bits. A byte is 8 bits; half a byte (4 bits) is a nibble. A bit is a single 0 or 1.

2. Which type of memory loses its contents when the power is switched off?

   • ROM
   • Hard disk
   • RAM
   • Flash drive

   Answer: RAM. RAM is volatile working memory. ROM, hard disks and flash drives are non-volatile and keep data without power.

3. Which of the following is an output device?

   • Scanner
   • Plotter
   • Joystick
   • Light pen

   Answer: Plotter. A plotter draws large, precise drawings such as maps and engineering designs. Scanner, joystick and light pen are input devices.

4. What is the binary equivalent of the decimal number 13?

   • 1011
   • 1110
   • 1001
   • 1101

   Answer: 1101. 13 = 8 + 4 + 1, so the bits for 8, 4, 2, 1 are 1, 1, 0, 1 — giving 1101.

5. What does HTTP stand for?

   • HyperText Transfer Protocol
   • High Transfer Text Protocol
   • HyperText Transmission Program
   • Hyperlink Text Transfer Process

   Answer: HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the protocol browsers use to fetch web pages. HTTPS adds encryption (the S stands for secure).

6. Which program translates an entire high-level-language program into machine code in one go, before it runs?

   • Interpreter
   • Assembler
   • Compiler
   • Loader

   Answer: Compiler. A compiler translates the whole program at once; an interpreter translates and runs it line by line; an assembler converts assembly language.

7. An IPv4 address is how many bits long?

   • 32
   • 64
   • 128
   • 16

   Answer: 32. IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses (about 4.3 billion). IPv6 was introduced with 128-bit addresses because IPv4 addresses were running out.

8. Who invented the World Wide Web?

   • Vint Cerf
   • Bill Gates
   • Charles Babbage
   • Tim Berners-Lee

   Answer: Tim Berners-Lee. Tim Berners-Lee proposed the Web in 1989 at CERN. Vint Cerf co-designed TCP/IP, the protocols of the internet itself.

9. Which was India's first supercomputer, built by C-DAC in 1991?

   • Pratyush
   • PARAM 8000
   • Mihir
   • Aaditya

   Answer: PARAM 8000. PARAM 8000 was developed by C-DAC, Pune, under Vijay Bhatkar. Pratyush, Mihir and Aaditya are much later weather and climate supercomputers.

10. Fake emails that imitate a bank to trick people into revealing passwords or OTPs are an example of:

    • Phishing
    • Firewalling
    • Caching
    • Booting

    Answer: Phishing. Phishing uses fake messages or websites to steal credentials. A firewall is a defence, caching is fast temporary storage, booting is starting a computer.