Functions of a Computer

What are the four basic functions of a computer?
The four basic functions of the computer are the recieve input, produce output, process information and store information.

What does CPU stand for?
CPU stands for Central Processing Unit.

Explain what a bit is.
A bit is binary digit. It is the smallest unit of information a computer can process. It can have two values, 0 and 1. Different combinations of these two numbers store information.

Name two codes used to convert words, etc. into bits.
ASCII and Unicode are both used to convert words into bits. ASCII uses 256 patterns that make codes for the 26 letters, 10 digits, and a few special characters. However, it cannot accomodate other languages, so Unicode was developed. Unicode uses around 65,000 unique characters that support all different languages.

Why is informations stored in some kind of binary format in computers?
Computers cannot understand words, pictures or anything of that sort. They only understand information in small units. For that reason, information is stored in the bits, the numbers 1 and 0. These two numbers are combined together to form many different combinations with different information on them.