Quiz 17.1

DIRECTIONS: Read each question carefully. Then click on the dot next to the answer that most closely fits the question. Try to answer all questions on this quiz and when you are done, click on the grade me button at the bottom.

Coverage: Sections 17.1 and 17.2

  1. Secondary storage is a form of computer memory that trades off capacity for
ease of programming
access time
portability
volatility

  1. All secondary storage devices store or retrieve data by moving a physical medium past a ...
read/write head
magnetic tape
clump of transistors
laser

  1. What is the oldest form of secondary storage that is still in widespread use?
magnetic disks
mercury delay tubes
magnetic tape
optical disks

  1. What was the primary input device in the earliest years of computers?
punched cards
floppy disks
keyboards
light pens

  1. What secondary storage device does most of the work today, holding a user's file along with all programs?
magnetic tape
punched cards
optical disks
disk drives

  1. How fast do the platters in a disk drive usually spin today?
only about 100 rpm
usually from 3000 to 7000 rpm
about 3000 revolutions per second
millions of times per second

  1. What was the diameter of the first floppy disks?
3.5 inches
1.5 inches
12 inches
8 inches

  1. What is it that actually records the bits on the surface of a disk drive or magnetic tape?
tiny regions of magnetization
iron atoms that are polarized in one direction or another
tiny pits in the surface
wavy regions as in an old vinyl record

  1. How is data store on the surface of a hard disk?
in a spiral; one long sequence
in separate concentric circles
in long lines that radiate out from the hub
randomly all over the surface

  1. What is the fundamental unit of storage on a disk? During a read or write operation, a whole one of these units is read or written, not just a part.
sector
track
byte
platter

  1. "The head of a disk drive is actually in contact with the surface." This statement is true only of...
hard disks
floppy drives
optical disks (CD-ROMS)

  1. The size of a sector in a disk drive is almost always a multiple of
0.5K or 1K
128 bytes
60 bytes
1 Megabyte

  1. What piece of hardware moves the read/write head to a different track in a disk drive?
main motor
stepper motor
control spring

  1. There is almost always one dedicated read/write head per...
sector
track
platter
disk drive unit