GCSE · Computer Science · AQA · Spec 8525

Hardware vs software

You're holding a USB stick with your favourite game on it. Hardware or software? One simple question settles it.

Computer Science · Computer systems

Hardware or software?

Is each of these hardware or software? Choose a bin before you read the reason.

Still to sort

Hardware (0)

Physical parts of the computer system. You can touch them.

Where the line is: Hardware is the thing you can touch, even when it is holding something that you can't.

Software (0)

Programs, and the data they use. Not physical, so you can't touch them.

Where the line is: Software is the instructions, or the data those instructions use. It can sit on something you can touch, but it is not that thing.

8 of 8 still to sort.

Pick a part, choose its bin, then read the reason. Use the touch test: can you physically touch it?

The trap

The game on the stick

A game is saved on a USB stick, and you're holding the stick in your hand.

Which of these is closest to what you think?

The USB stick is the software. It's what the game actually is.I'm holding the stick, so the stick and the game are both hardware.The stick is hardware. The game saved on it is software.

How sure are you?

I'm sureI think soI'm guessing

The USB stick is the software. It's what the game actually is.

This is a common misconception

This mixes up the container with what's inside it. You can touch the stick, so the stick is hardware. The game is a set of instructions, and you can't touch instructions. The game is the software. The stick just stores it.

I'm holding the stick, so the stick and the game are both hardware.

This is a common misconception

Half right. The stick is hardware. But your hand is holding the stick, not the game. A game is a program, and a program is not physical, so it can't be hardware however it's stored. Ask the touch test separately for the stick and for the game.

The stick is hardware. The game saved on it is software.

This matches the evidence

Yes. The stick is a physical storage device, so it's hardware. The game is a program, so it's software. The device and what it stores always get sorted separately.

Do the touch test twice: once for the device, once for what's saved on it. The device is hardware. The programs and data on it are software.

Follow the game from the stick to the screen

At each stage, notice which part is hardware and which is software.

Two halves of one machine

What if one half is missing?

Pick a route through the tree. Which combinations can do a useful task?

Hardware? → Software?

4 possible combinations.

On A computer system. 2 branches to choose from.

Walk each route and see what the computer can do at the end of it.

Your turn

Say it in your own words

In your own words, explain how hardware and software depend on each other in a computer system. [4 marks]

Your answer

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

The mark scheme

Hardware is the physical parts of a computer system, which can be touched (1 mark)
Software is the programs, and the data they use. It is not physical. (1 mark)
Hardware needs software to instruct it, so it can perform a useful task (1 mark)
Software needs hardware to be stored on and executed by (1 mark)
The processor executes the software's instructions (1 mark)

Model answer

Hardware is the physical parts of a computer system, such as the processor, which you can touch. Software is the programs, and the data they use, and it isn't physical. They depend on each other. Hardware can't perform a useful task without software to instruct it. Software needs hardware to be stored on and executed by, because the processor carries out the program's instructions.

A good answer covers both halves and then links them: each needs the other.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

One question sorts any part of a computer: can you touch it?

What you need to know

Hardware is the physical parts of a computer system that you can touch, such as the processor, memory, storage devices and input and output devices.
Software is the programs (sets of instructions) that run on a computer system, together with the data they use. It is not physical.
A storage device is hardware, but the programs and data saved on it are software.
Hardware and software depend on each other: hardware needs software to instruct it, and software needs hardware to be stored on and executed by.
The processor fetches and executes a program's instructions, and the software controls what the hardware does.

The big picture

Hardware is the physical parts of a computer system, the bits you can touch. Software is the programs, and the data they use, which you can't touch. A computer only does something useful when the two work together: the processor carries out the software's instructions, and the software controls what the hardware does.

Key points

1Hardware: the physical parts of a computer system. If you can touch it, it's hardware.

2Software: programs, which are sets of instructions, plus the data they use. You can't touch it.

3A storage device such as a USB stick is hardware. A game or file saved on it is software.

4Neither does anything useful alone: hardware needs software to instruct it, and software needs hardware to run on.

5The processor carries out the program's instructions, and the program controls what the hardware does.

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Worked example

Problem

A tablet has a touchscreen, a processor, a drawing app and a sketch you saved. Sort each one into hardware or software, and give the reason.

⚠ Watch out

Calling the USB stick or disc 'the software' because the program is stored on it. The stick is hardware. The program on it is software.

🧠

Memory hook

Hardware is hard: you can knock on it. You can't knock on a set of instructions, only on whatever they're stored on.

✓

Check yourself

Without looking back: a memory card in a camera is full of photos. Which is hardware and which is software, and which question did you ask to decide?

Flashcards

(8)

What is hardware?

The physical parts of a computer system that you can touch, such as the processor, memory, storage devices and input and output devices.

What is software?

The programs (sets of instructions) that run on a computer system, together with the data they use. It isn't physical, so you can't touch it.

Which question sorts hardware from software?

Can you physically touch it? If you can, it's hardware. If it's programs or the data they use, it's software.

Is a USB stick with a program saved on it hardware or software?

The stick is hardware, because it's a physical storage device. The program saved on it is software.

Does software include data?

Yes. Software is programs together with the data they use, so a saved file counts as software.

Why can't hardware perform a useful task on its own?

It needs software to instruct it.

Why can't software do anything without hardware?

Software needs hardware to be stored on and executed by.

What does the processor do with a program?

It fetches the program's instructions and executes them. The software controls what the hardware does.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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Hardware or software?

The game on the stick

What if one half is missing?

Say it in your own words

More AQA GCSE Computer Science topics