How Computers Work

Binary, pixels, memory and the internet. Peek inside the machine and see how it really works.

  • What’s Inside a Computer?

    What’s Inside a Computer?

    Meet the processor, memory, storage and the input and output parts of a computer by imagining a busy kitchen.

  • Counting with Light Bulbs

    Counting with Light Bulbs

    Learn binary, the on-and-off number system that every computer uses, by switching imaginary light bulbs on and off.

  • Secret Codes in Binary

    Secret Codes in Binary

    Find out how a computer turns letters into numbers and then into bulb patterns, and decode a secret message.

  • Pixels and Colour

    Pixels and Colour

    Discover that a screen is made of tiny dots of red, green and blue light, and mix them with numbers…

  • How Pictures Are Stored

    How Pictures Are Stored

    Turn a picture into a grid of numbers, then shrink it with a clever counting trick called run-length encoding.

  • Logic Gates

    Logic Gates

    Meet AND, OR and NOT, the tiny decision-makers inside every computer chip, and write their truth tables in Python.

  • Bits, Bytes and Memory Sizes

    Bits, Bytes and Memory Sizes

    Learn what bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes mean, and how much a phone or computer can store.

  • How the Internet Works

    How the Internet Works

    Follow a message as it is chopped into packets, passed along by routers and put back together, just like a…

  • Searching and Sorting Fast

    Searching and Sorting Fast

    Find things lightning fast with binary search, and see why putting things in order makes searching so much quicker.

  • Staying Safe and Kind Online

    Staying Safe and Kind Online

    Learn simple habits for keeping private things private, thinking before you share, being kind, and knowing when to ask a…