Question 1: Describe in your own words what the fetch stage of the fetch-execute cycle involves.

Answer: The fetch stage involves retrieving the next instruction from the computer's memory at the address stored in the program counter.

Question 2: List the main hardware components involved in the fetch-execute cycle.

Answer: The main components are the Control Unit, the Program Counter, the Memory, and the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU).

Question 3: Explain the purpose of the Program Counter during the fetch phase.

Answer: The Program Counter holds the memory address of the next instruction to be fetched from memory.

Question 4: Sketch a simple diagram of a computer's hardware showing the Control Unit, Memory, and the ALU. Label each component clearly.

Answer: A correct sketch would show the Control Unit connected to Memory and the ALU, with arrows indicating data flow between these components. Labels should identify each part.

Question 5: Complete the truth table for a NAND gate with inputs A and B.

Answer: A | B | Output 0 | 0 | 1 0 | 1 | 1 1 | 0 | 1 1 | 1 | 0

Question 6: Draw a logic circuit for an AND gate using only NAND gates. Label each NAND gate.

Answer: A correct sketch would depict two NAND gates feeding into a third NAND gate to produce an AND function. All gates should be clearly labeled.

Question 7: Describe how the ALU participates in the execution phase of the fetch-execute cycle.

Answer: The ALU performs calculations and logical operations on data as instructed by the current instruction during the execution phase.

Question 8: Identify two types of memory used in a computer and briefly explain their roles in the fetch-execute cycle.

Answer: Main memory (RAM) stores instructions and data temporarily for processing, while cache memory temporarily holds frequently accessed data to speed up fetch operations.

Question 9: Sketch a simplified flowchart of the fetch-execute cycle, showing the sequence of steps from fetching an instruction to executing it.

Answer: A flowchart should include steps: fetch instruction, decode instruction, execute instruction, and repeat. Arrows should connect these steps in order.

Question 10: Explain why the fetch-execute cycle is repeated continuously in a computer.

Answer: It is repeated to ensure the CPU fetches and executes instructions sequentially, allowing the computer to perform tasks continuously.

Question 11: Describe one way that hardware improvements can make the fetch-execute cycle faster.

Answer: Using faster memory (like cache) reduces the time needed to fetch instructions, speeding up the cycle.