Processors evolve daily and processor speeds keep getting faster and faster as technolgy gets better. Clocking the speed of a processor is very interesting in a way that you'd think who would think up of an idea like this. Clock speeds are measured in frequency that is expressed in cycles per second. Clock speeds are controlled using silver quartz, which is sometimes contained in a tin container but most newer computers have the oscillator in the motherboard making it very hard to see. As voltage is applied to the quartz, it begins to vibrate (hence the name Oscillator) emitting oscillations in the form of a current that alternates at a harmonic rate. Thus giving you the processor's clock speed. Your average PC runs millions of these cycles per scond. You can obviously see how computers have evolved considering the first one made could only do sixty thousand operations per second. .
Next, is the memory A.K.A RAM(Random Access Memory). Ram is the primary memory which holds all the programs and data the processor is using at a given time. It is your computer's workstation and if it's not saved to your hardrive, you'll lose any unsaved information because RAM is temporarily saved until your computer is shut down. RAM can be expressed in this simple analagy. The file cabinet is your hardrive, which is used to store programs and data for long-term safekeeping. The desk is represents the systems main memory, which allows the person working at the desk direct access to any files placed on it. Files represent programs and documents you can load into memory. To work on a particular file, you must retrieve it from your file cabinet and place it on your desk. If the desk is large enough, you can place more files on your desk, IE getting more RAM. The more RAM you have, you more you can do at one time on your computer. Likewise with the cabinet, the bigger your hardrive is, the more data you can store in your computer.