The Keyboard

Keyboard is the most common text-based input device. Computer keyboards are similar to electronic typewriter keyboards with additional keys. The keyboard is used to enter (type in) letters, numbers and other characters. Most keyboards have between 80 and 110 keys. 

The keyboards used by us are also known as QWERTY keyboards because the first six typing keys on the top row of letters spell QWERTY. The QWERTY keyboard was designed in the 1800s for mechanical typewriters and was actually designed to slow typists down to avoid jamming the keys on mechanical units. Let us learn about the keys on a keyboard.

Alphabet keys:

Keys for the letters A to Z are called alphabet keys or letter keys. There are 26 alphabet keys on a computer keyboard. They are used to enter letters. You can type both capital and small letters using the alphabet keys. The alphabet keys are shown below:

Number Keys:

We type in numbers using the number keys. The keyboard has number keys for the digits 0 to 9. They are shown below.

A keyboard has two set of number keys. The first set of number keys is present above the alphabet keys and second set of keys is present on the right side of the keyboard. The second set of number keys is called numeric keypad. To use the numeric keypad, you need to press the Num Lock key to turn it on. The Num Lock indicator light glows when the Num Lock key is turn on.

Spacebar:

The spacebar is the longest key on the keyboard. It is usually found in the lowest row. It is used to put or enter a blank space between two letters or numbers. For example, to type the sentence, “Computer is a Machine”. Follow the given steps:

• Step 1: Type “Computer”.
• Step 2: Press the Spacebar Key.
• Step 3: Type “is”.
• Step 4: Press the Spacebar Key.
• Step 5: Type “a”.
• Step 6: Press the Spacebar Key.
• Step 7: Type “Machine”

Enter Keys:

The Enter key was originally the "Return key" on a typewriter, which caused the carriage to return to the beginning of the next line on the paper. There are two Enter keys on the keyboard. When we finish typing in one line, we press the Enter key to start a new line. This moves the cursor to the next line. The cursor is a blinking line ( ׀ ) that we see on the screen while typing. It shows where the next character or action will come. Pressing Enter may also make the computer start a new action. For example, to type two sentences, “A computer is a machine” and “It works very fast” in two different lines. Follow the given steps:

• Step 1: Type the sentence “A computer is a machine”.
• Step 2: Press Enter key. The cursor gets placed at the beginning of the next line.
• Step 3: Type the sentence “It works very fast”.

Delete Keys:

The Delete key can used to erase a character. When typing, we see a blinking line like ׀. It is called cursor. Pressing the Delete key erases the character to the right of the cursor. For example, you wanted to type the word COMPUTER, but by mistake you typed the letter “A” after “M”.

To remove the letter “A”, place the cursor before it and press the Delete key. The letter “A” gets removed.

Backspace Key:

The Backspace key can used to erase a character. When typing, we see a blinking line like ׀. It is called cursor. Pressing the Backspace key erases the character to the left of the cursor. For example, you wanted to type the word COMPUTER, but by mistake you typed the letter “A” after “M”.

To remove the letter “A”, place the cursor after it and press the Backspace key. The letter “A” gets removed.

Esc (Escape) key:

You will find the Esc (Escape) Key at the top-left corner of the keyboard. Pressing the Escape key usually cancels or aborts the current operation what the computer is doing or close a menu. For example, you can close the Start menu by pressing Esc.

Caps Lock Key:

Press the Caps Lock key once, this turns on Caps lock. Most of the keyboards have a small light that glows when the Caps Lock mode is on. Now if you press alphabet keys, you will get capital letters and in lower case when the shift key is pressed. Press the Caps Lock key again to turn off Caps lock. Now if you press alphabet keys, you will get small letters.

For example, if you want to type “computer” in capital letters, press the Caps lock key once. When you type now, the name will appears as “COMPUTER”.

Shift Key:

The Shift key can be used to type capital letters when the Caps Lock key is ‘OFF’. To type capital letters, press the Shift key and the alphabet key at the same time. If the Caps Lock key is ‘ON’, pressing the Shift key with the alphabet key will display small letters.

Some keys on the keyboard have two characters. The Shift key can also be used with those keys to type the upper characters on them.

Numeric Keypad:

The numeric keypad is a set of keys found on the right side of the keyboard. It has keys for the digits 0 to 9. It also has some other keys, like those for addition ( + ), subtraction ( - ), multiplication ( * ) and division ( / ). Many people use the numeric keypad when they have to enter numbers and do calculations.

Num Lock Key:

The numeric keypad has a Num Lock key. Pressing this key turns Num Lock on. The numeric keypad can be used to type numbers only when Num Lock is on. Pressing the Num Lock key again turns off Num Lock. Then the keys work differently, shown by what is printed below the numbers.

Arrow Keys:

A special symbol, that is, a small blinking line that shows where the next letter or number will appear on the computer screen is known as the cursor.

If you want to type at a different place, you can change the position of the cursor. The cursor can be moved left and right or up and down by pressing the four keys that have arrows on them. These four keys are called Cursor Control Keys or direction keys. Arrows are also printed below some numbers in the numeric keypad. These keys works as arrow keys when Num Lock is OFF.

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