What term refers to the physical parts of a computer?

The term that refers to the physical parts of a computer is hardware. Hardware encompasses all the tangible components that you can physically touch and manipulate, such as the computer’s motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive, and peripheral devices like keyboards and monitors.

Software, in contrast, refers to the programs and operating systems that run on the hardware, providing instructions for the hardware to perform tasks. An application is a type of software that allows users to perform specific tasks, such as word processing or browsing the internet. A database is a structured set of data that is stored and accessed electronically, typically used for organizing and managing information rather than referring to physical components. Thus, hardware is the appropriate term specifically relating to the actual physical elements of a computer system.