0% found this document useful (0 votes)

16 views91 pages

A2 Chapter 13 Data Representation

The document contains a series of questions and exercises related to floating-point representation, data types, and pseudocode in computer systems. It covers topics such as calculating normalized floating-point representations, defining user-defined data types, and explaining the implications of data storage methods. The exercises require both theoretical explanations and practical pseudocode implementations.

Uploaded by

willissaoirse2

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

0% found this document useful (0 votes)

16 views91 pages

A2 Chapter 13 Data Representation

Uploaded by

willissaoirse2

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 91

2

1 Real numbers are stored in a computer system using floating-point representation with:

• 10 bits for the mantissa

• 6 bits for the exponent
• Two’s complement form for both the mantissa and the exponent.

(a) Calculate the normalised floating-point representation of –7.25 in this system.

Show your working.

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Calculate the denary value of the given binary floating-point number.
Show your working.

Mantissa Exponent

1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Answer ......................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2021 9618/31/M/J/21

(c) The given binary floating-point number is not normalised.

Normalise the floating-point number. Show your working.

Mantissa Exponent

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(d) The denary number 513 cannot be stored accurately as a normalised floating-point number in
this computer system.

(i) Explain the reason for this.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Describe an alteration to the way floating-point numbers are stored to enable this number
to be stored accurately using the same total number of bits.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/31/M/J/21 [Turn over

2 (a) Describe the purpose of a user-defined data type.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Define, using pseudocode, the following enumerated data types:

(i) SchoolDay to hold data about the days students are usually in school.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) WeekEnd to hold data about the days that are not school days.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

• first name and last name

• the two days they attend:
ż one on a school day
ż one not on a school day.

Use the enumerated types you created in part (b).

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2021 9618/31/M/J/21

1 Data types can be defined using pseudocode.

The data type, LibraryRecord, is defined in pseudocode as:

TYPE LibraryRecord
DECLARE Title : STRING
DECLARE Fiction : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Author : STRING
DECLARE NumberOfCopies : INTEGER
ENDTYPE

A variable, LibraryBook, is declared in pseudocode as:

DECLARE LibraryBook : LibraryRecord

(a) Write pseudocode statements to assign:

• A Level Computer Science to Title of LibraryBook
• FALSE to Fiction of LibraryBook.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) The type definition for LibraryRecord is changed.

(i) The value for NumberOfCopies must be between 1 and 10 inclusive.

Write the updated line of pseudocode from the type definition of LibraryRecord to
implement the change.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Every copy of every book is now uniquely identified by an accession number,
AccessionNumber, as it is added to the library. Each library record will include one or
more accession numbers. Each accession number is an integer.

Write the extra line of pseudocode needed in the type definition of LibraryRecord.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2022 9618/31/M/J/22

(c) A record is a user-defined composite data type.

Explain what is meant by a user-defined composite data type.

Include an example of another user-defined composite data type in your answer.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2022 9618/31/M/J/22 [Turn over

1 Data types can be defined using pseudocode.

The data type, BuildingRecord, is defined in pseudocode as:

TYPE BuildingRecord
DECLARE BuildingID : INTEGER
DECLARE BuildingGroup : STRING
DECLARE OwnerName : STRING
DECLARE BuildingAddress : STRING
DECLARE DateLastSold : DATE
DECLARE PriceLastSold : REAL
ENDTYPE

A variable, BuildingRegister, is declared in pseudocode as:

DECLARE BuildingRegister : BuildingRecord

(a) Write pseudocode statements to assign:

• 1067 to the BuildingID of BuildingRegister

• house to the BuildingGroup of BuildingRegister

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) The type definition for BuildingRecord is changed. The data type for BuildingGroup is
changed to an enumerated type, BuildingType, with values of house, bungalow, apartment
and farm.

(i) Write the type declaration for BuildingType in pseudocode.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Write the new declaration for BuildingGroup in pseudocode.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) Write the new pseudocode statement to assign house to BuildingGroup of

BuildingRegister.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2022 9618/32/M/J/22

(c) The program is to be rewritten using Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). The data type
BuildingRecord is to be changed to a class, BuildingClass.

The properties for BuildingClass are BuildingID, BuildingGroup, OwnerName,

BuildingAddress, DateLastSold and PriceLastSold.

All the properties are set to PRIVATE, for example:

PRIVATE PriceLastSold : REAL

(i) Write the declaration in pseudocode for OwnerName as PRIVATE.

............................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Explain why the properties have been set to PRIVATE.

............................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2022 9618/32/M/J/22 [Turn over

1 Numbers are stored in two different computer systems by using floating-point representation.

System 1 uses:

• 10 bits for the mantissa

• 6 bits for the exponent
• two’s complement form for both the mantissa and the exponent.

System 2 uses:

• 8 bits for the mantissa

• 8 bits for the exponent
• two’s complement form for both the mantissa and the exponent.

(a) Calculate the normalised floating-point representation of 113.75 and show how it would be
represented in each of these two systems.

Show your working.

System 1

Mantissa Exponent

System 2

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

© UCLES 2023 9618/31/M/J/23

(b) Explain the problem that occurred in part (a) when representing the number in system 2.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

2 (a) Draw one line from each machine learning category to its most appropriate description.

Machine learning category Description

simulates the data-processing

capabilities of the human brain to
make decisions
Supervised
learning
enables learning by mapping an input
to an output based on example input–
output pairs
Reinforcement
learning
enables information related to errors
produced by the neural network to be
transmitted
Deep
learning
enables learning in an interactive
environment by trial and error using
its own experiences
Unsupervised
learning
enables learning by allowing the
process to discover patterns on its
own that were previously undetected
[4]

(b) Describe the purpose of both the A* algorithm and Dijkstra’s algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2023 9618/31/M/J/23 [Turn over

1 Numbers are stored in a computer using floating point representation with:

• 10 bits for the mantissa

• 6 bits for the exponent
• two’s complement form for both the mantissa and exponent.

(a) Write the normalised floating-point representation of the following binary number using this
system:

0101010.111
Show your working.

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Mantissa Exponent

[2]

(b) Describe the reason why the normalised form of the following binary number cannot be
represented accurately using this system.

0101011.111001
...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2023 9618/32/M/J/23

2 (a) Describe how records are organised and accessed in a sequential file.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) A hashing algorithm is used to calculate storage locations for records in a random access file.
The algorithm calculates hash values using the function modulus 5.

The function modulus gives the remainder after integer division.

For example, 3003 modulus 5 = 3, so the record key 3003 gives a hash value of 3.

Complete the table to show the remaining hash values.

Record key Hash value

3003 3

1029

7630
[2]

© UCLES 2023 9618/32/M/J/23 [Turn over

3 (a) A hashing algorithm is used to calculate storage locations for records in a random access file.
It calculates hash values by using the function modulus 3.

The function modulus gives the remainder after integer division.

For example, 1030 modulus 3 = 1. Therefore, the record key 1030 gives a hash value of 1.

Complete the table to show the remaining hash values.

Record key Hash value

1030 1

1050

1025
[2]

(b) Describe what happens, in relation to the storage or retrieval of a record in the file, when
the calculated hash value is a duplicate of a previously calculated hash value for a different
record key.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2023 9618/31/M/J/23

4 Two descriptions of user-defined data types are given.

Give appropriate type declaration statements for each, including appropriate names.

(a) A data type to hold a set of prime numbers below 20. These prime numbers are:

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) A data type to point to a day in the week, for example Monday.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

5 (a) State, with a reason, where it would be appropriate to use circuit switching.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Give two benefits and two drawbacks of circuit switching.

Benefit 1 ...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Benefit 2 ...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Drawback 1 ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Drawback 2 ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

© UCLES 2023 9618/31/M/J/23 [Turn over

6 (a) Write pseudocode statements to declare the composite data type, TAppointments, to hold
data about patients for a dental clinic. It will include for each patient:

• name (first name and last name)

• date of birth
• telephone number
• date of last appointment
• date of next appointment
• all treatments are complete (yes or no).

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) This pseudocode algorithm reads dental records stored in a random file using the user-defined
data type TAppointments and prints the contents of the file, one record at a time.

Complete this file handling pseudocode:

DECLARE DentalRecord : ARRAY[1:250] OF TAppointments

DECLARE DentalFile : STRING
DECLARE Count : INTEGER
DentalFile "DentalFile.dat"
OUTPUT "The file ", DentalFile, " contains these records:"

OPENFILE .................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................... 1

REPEAT
SEEK DentalFile, Count

.....................................................................................................................
OUTPUT DentalRecord[Count]
Count Count + 1

.....................................................................(DentalFile)

.............................................................................................
[5]

© UCLES 2023 9618/32/M/J/23 [Turn over

1 (a) Numbers are stored in a computer using floating-point representation with:

• 12 bits for the mantissa

• 4 bits for the exponent
• two’s complement form for both the mantissa and exponent.

(i) Write the normalised floating-point representation of the following unsigned binary
number using this system.

1011100.011001
Working .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Mantissa Exponent

[2]

(ii) State the consequence of storing the binary number in part (a)(i) as a floating-point
number in this system. Justify your answer.

Consequence ....................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Justification .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Explain the reason why binary numbers are stored in normalised form.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]
© UCLES 2021 9618/31/O/N/21
3

2 Draw one line from each programming paradigm to its most appropriate description.

Programming paradigm Description

Programs using the instruction set of a

processor

Declarative
Programs based on events such as user
actions or sensor outputs

Imperative
Programs using the concepts of class,
inheritance, encapsulation and
polymorphism
Low-level

Programs with an explicit sequence of

commands that update the program state,
Object-oriented with or without procedure calls

Programs that specify the desired result

rather than how to get to it

[4]

3 Enumerated and pointer are two non-composite data types.

(a) Write pseudocode to create an enumerated type called Parts to include these parts sold in
a computer shop:

Monitor, CPU, SSD, HDD, LaserPrinter, Keyboard, Mouse

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Write pseudocode to create a pointer type called SelectParts that will reference the
memory location in which the current part name is stored.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/31/O/N/21 [Turn over

5 (a) Compare sequential and serial methods of file organisation.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) State the most suitable method of file access when a record is referenced by a unique
address on a disk-type storage medium.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(c) State the most suitable method of file access when a bank stores its data records in ascending
order of account number.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2021 9618/31/O/N/21

1 Real numbers are stored in a computer system using floating-point representation with:

• 8 bits for the mantissa

• 8 bits for the exponent
• two’s complement form for both mantissa and exponent.

(a) Write the normalised floating-point representation of +202 in this system.

Show your working.

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Write the normalised floating-point representation of –202 in this system.

Show your working.

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2022 9618/31/O/N/22

(c) A binary number is stored in the computer system.

Mantissa Exponent

0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

(i) State why the number is not normalised.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Write the normalised floating-point representation of the number.

Mantissa Exponent

[2]

2 Outline the functions of the Transport and Internet layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite.

Transport layer .................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

Internet layer ....................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................
[5]

© UCLES 2022 9618/31/O/N/22 [Turn over

3 (a) State what is meant by the term enumerated data type.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(b) State what is meant by the term pointer data type.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(c) The months of the year are: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August,
September, October, November and December.

Write the pseudocode statement to define the data type Quarter1, to hold the names of the
first three months of a year.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(d) The composite data type Pet is used to store data about the various pets of a group of
students. It uses these fields:

Field name Data type

PetName String
AnimalType String
PetAge Integer
PetGender Char
OwnerName String

(i) Write the pseudocode statement to set up a variable for one record of the composite
data type Pet.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2022 9618/31/O/N/22

(ii) Write pseudocode to store the details of the following pet, in the variable you set up in
part (d)(i).

PetName AnimalType PetAge PetGender OwnerName

Tibbles Cat 8 M Jasmine Smith

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

4 Draw one line to connect each stage of compilation to its most appropriate description.

Stage of compilation Description

minimising a program’s execution time and

memory requirement

Lexical analysis
converting an intermediate representation of
source code into an executable form

Syntax analysis
converting a sequence of characters into a
sequence of tokens

Code generation
directly executing instructions written in a
scripting language

Optimisation
using parsing algorithms to interpret the
meaning of a sequence of tokens

[4]

© UCLES 2022 9618/31/O/N/22 [Turn over

1 Normalised floating-point numbers are stored in a computer system using two’s complement for
both the mantissa and the exponent with:

• 11 bits for the mantissa

• 5 bits for the exponent.

(a) Write the largest positive two’s complement binary number that can be stored in this system.

Mantissa Exponent

[1]

(b) Calculate the denary value of the given binary floating-point number.
Show your working.

Mantissa Exponent

1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Answer ......................................................................................................................................
[3]

(c) State when underflow occurs in a binary floating-point system.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2022 9618/32/O/N/22

4 A program to manage regular flight details at an airport requires some user-defined data types.

(a) Write pseudocode statements to declare the enumerated data type Aircraft to hold data
about the types of aircraft used for a flight.

These types of aircraft are: C300, C350, D242, E757, X380.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Write pseudocode statements to declare the composite data type Flight to hold data about
flights to a specific destination. These include:

• flight number, which could be any combination of letters and numbers

• destination
• date of departure
• type of aircraft used.

Use the enumerated data type you created in part (a).

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2022 9618/32/O/N/22

(ii) Write pseudocode to store the details of the following flight in the variable you set up in
part (c)(i).

Field Data
flight number XA782
destination Cambridge
date of departure 12/12/2022
type of aircraft used C350

Use the field names you created in part (b).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

5 Describe what is meant by a virtual machine.

Include in your answer two benefits and two drawbacks of using a virtual machine.

Description .......................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

Benefit 1 ...........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

Benefit 2 ...........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

Drawback 1 ......................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

Drawback 2 ......................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................
[6]

© UCLES 2022 9618/32/O/N/22 [Turn over

1 In a particular computer system, real numbers are stored using floating-point representation with:

12 bits for the mantissa

4 bits for the exponent
two’s complement form for both mantissa and exponent.

(a) Calculate the normalised floating-point representation of +4.5 in this system. Show your
working.

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b)
working.

Mantissa Exponent

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2018 9618/03/SP/21

1
3

Mantissa Exponent

0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Answer ......................................................................................................................................
[3]

(d) (i) State whether the floating-point number given in part (c) is normalised or not normalised.

...................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Justify your answer given in part (d)(i).

...........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................... [1]

(e) The system changes so that it now allocates eight bits to both the mantissa and the exponent.

Explain two effects this has on the numbers that can be represented.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

© UCLES 2018 9618/03/SP/21 [Turn over

2
2