Which term refers to the physical parts of a computer system?

Which term refers to the physical parts of a computer system?

• A. Software
• B. Hardware
• C. Firmware
• D. Interface

Answer: (B)

Hardware are the tangible parts of a computer—things you can touch and assemble like the motherboard, processor, memory (RAM), storage drives, graphics card, power supply, and the case (plus peripherals such as keyboard and monitor). These physical components provide the actual structure and power for the machine to run. Software, in contrast, includes the programs and data that run on that hardware. Firmware sits in between, being software embedded in hardware to control basic operations, so it’s not the physical part itself. An interface is about how users or devices interact with the system, not the physical components. So the term that refers to the tangible parts is hardware.

Hardware are the tangible parts of a computer—things you can touch and assemble like the motherboard, processor, memory (RAM), storage drives, graphics card, power supply, and the case (plus peripherals such as keyboard and monitor). These physical components provide the actual structure and power for the machine to run. Software, in contrast, includes the programs and data that run on that hardware. Firmware sits in between, being software embedded in hardware to control basic operations, so it’s not the physical part itself. An interface is about how users or devices interact with the system, not the physical components. So the term that refers to the tangible parts is hardware.