What is RAM?

RAM, or Random-Access-Memory, is a type of memory that accesses faster than main memory (like a hard drive), but that only stores data while the computer is turned on. It is normally used to store the program that your computer is currently running, and any data that program needs. RAM is divided into small blocks of data, each of which can be accessed by a unique number, called an address. In our example, each address refers to 16 bits of data, and there are 4096 addresses, to give 4096*16=65535 bits of data, or 8 Kilobytes. Most computers today have atleast 8 Megabytes of RAM, and 16 or 32 Megabytes is preferred.