0478 Computer Science March 2026 Question Paper 12

1 short_answer p. 2

(no root text)

1a 1 mark multiple_choice p. 2 1.3

Tick ($\checkmark$) \textbf{one} box to show which statement about data storage is correct.

A
One bit equals four nibbles.
B
One byte equals 16 bits.
C
One exbibyte (EiB) equals $1024 \times 1024$ tebibytes (TiB).
D
One mebibyte (MiB) equals $1024 \times 1024$ gibibytes (GiB).

1b 2 marks calculation p. 2 1.2

An image file has a resolution of $1024 \text{ pixels high} \times 1024 \text{ pixels wide}$. The colour depth is two bytes.

Calculate the file size of the image. Give the answer in MiB. Show your working.

file size of image \hrulefill MiB

2 short_answer p. 2

A user accesses a website using a web browser.

2a 3 marks short_answer p. 2 5.1

Two functions of a web browser are to provide an address bar and to store cookies.

Give \textbf{three} other functions of a web browser.

\hrulefill
\hrulefill
\hrulefill

2b short_answer p. 3

The user enters a uniform resource locator (URL) into the address bar of the web browser.

2bi 1 mark short_answer p. 3 5.1

The URL is converted into an internet protocol (IP) address.

Describe the purpose of an IP address.

2bii 3 marks long_answer p. 3 5.1

Explain how a URL is converted to an IP address.

2c short_answer p. 3

The website stores cookies on the user's computer.

2ci 1 mark short_answer p. 3 5.1

State what is meant by a cookie.

2cii 2 marks short_answer p. 3 5.1

Give \textbf{one} example of how a website can use a session cookie and \textbf{one} example of how a website can use a persistent cookie.

Each example must be different.

session cookie \hrulefill

persistent cookie \hrulefill

3 short_answer p. 4

A drone is used to search for lost animals. The drone is a flying device that can be autonomous or operated using a remote control.

3a 2 marks short_answer p. 4 6.2

The drone is a robot.

Give \textbf{two} characteristics of the drone that identify it as a robot.

\hrulefill
\hrulefill

3b short_answer p. 4

The drone has a built-in system to stop it from crashing into objects, for example a tree. The system uses sensors and a microprocessor.

3bi 1 mark short_answer p. 4 3.2

Identify \textbf{one} sensor that could be built into the drone to detect if it is near an object.

3bii 1 mark short_answer p. 4 3.1

State what is meant by a microprocessor.

3biii 4 marks long_answer p. 5 6.1

Explain how the sensor and microprocessor work together to stop the drone crashing into an object.

3c short_answer p. 5

The drone has a digital camera that records a video while the drone is flying.

The drone can be connected to a computer using a universal serial bus (USB) interface to transfer the video recorded by the digital camera.

3ci 1 mark short_answer p. 5 2.1

State what is meant by a USB interface.

3cii 2 marks short_answer p. 5 2.1

Explain how a USB interface is used to transmit data.

4 4 marks long_answer p. 6 2.1

Draw and annotate a diagram or diagrams to show:

\begin{itemize} \item the contents and structure of a data packet \item how a data packet is transmitted across a network. \end{itemize}

5 short_answer p. 8

A student stores their schoolwork on secondary storage devices. They store their schoolwork on their home computer and on cloud storage.

5a 2 marks short_answer p. 8 3.3

Give \textbf{two} characteristics of secondary storage.

\hrulefill
\hrulefill

5b 5 marks short_answer p. 8 3.3

The home computer has a magnetic storage device, and the cloud storage uses solid-state (flash memory) storage.

Complete the description of how magnetic hard disk drives and solid-state drives (SSD) read data.

Use terms from the list. \textbf{Not} all terms need to be used. You should only use a term once.

\begin{itemize} \item control \item electromagnetic field \item flow \item loss \item NOR gates \item opened \item pits and lands \item platters \item ports \item remove \item sectors \item XOR gates \end{itemize}

A hard disk has several platters. Each platter is split into tracks and \underline{\hspace{1.5em}}. To read data, the read/write head moves over the platters to the position where data starts. The \underline{\hspace{1.5em}} indicates if the data is a 1 or a 0.

A solid-state drive uses NAND gates or \underline{\hspace{1.5em}}. It is made of transistors that work as floating gates and \underline{\hspace{1.5em}} gates. The gates control the \underline{\hspace{1.5em}} of electrons to memory cells.

5c short_answer p. 9

(no root text)

5ci 1 mark short_answer p. 9 3.3

State what is meant by cloud storage.

5cii 2 marks short_answer p. 9 3.3

Explain the advantages to the student of storing their data on cloud storage instead of storing the data locally on their home computer.

5ciii 2 marks short_answer p. 9 3.3

Explain the advantages to the student of storing their data locally on their home computer instead of using cloud storage.

6 short_answer p. 10

6a 1 mark calculation p. 10 1.1

Convert the denary number 150 into an 8-bit binary number.

6b 1 mark calculation p. 10 1.1

Convert the hexadecimal number F08 into a 12-bit binary number.

6c 1 mark calculation p. 10 1.1

Give the 8-bit binary value after a logical binary shift left of two places is performed on the binary number 00110101.

6d 1 mark calculation p. 10 1.1

Convert the two's complement binary integer 01110101 into denary.

6e 3 marks calculation p. 11 1.1

Add the \textbf{two} binary integers using binary addition and give your answer in binary. Show all your working.

\begin{tabular}{rcccccccc} & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 \

& 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 \ \hline \end{tabular}

7 short_answer p. 12

Data is transmitted between a computer and a printer using a wired connection. The computer transmits the data to the printer. The printer transmits data and interrupts to the computer.

7a 2 marks short_answer p. 12 2.1

State whether the method of transmission should be serial or parallel. Justify your choice.

method of transmission \hrulefill

justification

7b 2 marks short_answer p. 12 2.1

State whether the method of transmission should be simplex, half-duplex or full-duplex. Justify your answer.

method of transmission \hrulefill

justification

7c short_answer p. 12

The transmitted data may contain an error.

7ci 1 mark short_answer p. 12 2.2

Give \textbf{one} way in which an error can occur during data transmission.

7cii 3 marks short_answer p. 12 2.2

The computer and printer agree to use automatic repeat query (ARQ).

Explain how ARQ using negative acknowledgement is used to establish that data is received without error.

8 short_answer p. 14

A computer has system software and application software.

8a 2 marks short_answer p. 14 4.1

Explain how system software is different to application software.

8b 2 marks short_answer p. 14 4.1

One type of system software is an operating system. One function of an operating system is to manage peripherals.

Describe the operating system function managing peripherals.

8c 6 marks long_answer p. 15 5.3

Complete the table by giving \textbf{two} examples of software security solutions and explain how each protects a computer against threats.

\begin{tabular}{|p{4cm}|p{10cm}|} \hline \textbf{security solution} & \textbf{explanation} \ \hline & \ & \ \hline & \ & \ \hline \end{tabular}

8d 2 marks short_answer p. 15 4.1

Define the terms firmware and operating system.

firmware \hrulefill

operating system \hrulefill

9 short_answer p. 16

A programmer is writing a program using an integrated development environment (IDE).

9a 3 marks short_answer p. 16 2.2

The program will take data from bar codes as input.

A bar code includes a check digit.

Explain how the check digit is used to check for errors in data entry.

9b short_answer p. 16

The programmer is using a high-level language to write the program.

9bi 2 marks short_answer p. 16 4.2

Describe what is meant by a high-level language.

9bii 3 marks short_answer p. 16 4.2

The programmer uses a compiler during the development of the program.

Describe the benefits of using a compiler when developing the program.

0478 Computer Science March 2026 Question Paper 12

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