How Computers Work

This course is a part of Computer science, a 6-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

Thanks to our partners at Code.org, you can learn how computers work - everything from what makes something a computer in the first place, how computers use electrical circuits to store and process information, and the ways hardware and software work together.

This course contains 6 segments:

Introducing How Computers Work

Microsoft founder Bill Gates gives a quick overview of the entire How Computers Work series.

What makes a computer, a computer?

Inventor and designer May-Li Khoe and virtual reality designer Nat Brown introduce the four features that all computers share.

Binary & data

Adafruit founder Limor Fried and program manager Federico Gomez Suarez explain how computers represent numbers, text, images, and sound using tiny electric signals.

Circuits & Logic

Adafruit founder Limor Fried and virtual reality designer Nat Brown show how simple logical circuits underlie everything your computer does.

CPU, memory, input & output

Smart fabric designer Madison Maxey and founder and maker Danielle Applestone explain the different components that allow computers to input, store, process, and output information.

Hardware and Software

Engineering manager Erica Gomez, program manager Jerome Holman, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates explain how a computer's hardware and software work together.