Which component serves as the data pathway between memory (or peripherals) and the CPU?

Which component serves as the data pathway between memory (or peripherals) and the CPU?

• A. Data Bus
• B. MAR
• C. Program Counter
• D. Accumulator

Answer: (A)

Data moves between memory (and peripherals) and the CPU over the data bus, which is the set of lines that carry the actual data bits. The width of this bus—how many bits it can transfer at once—determines how much data can move in parallel and affects overall throughput. This pathway is separate from the address information, which travels on the address bus, and from internal registers like the Memory Address Register, Program Counter, or Accumulator, which hold data or addresses inside the CPU but aren’t the data conduit itself. The Memory Address Register stores the location to read from or write to, the Program Counter tracks the next instruction to fetch, and the Accumulator holds data for arithmetic operations. Therefore, the data bus is the correct route for transferring data between memory (or peripherals) and the CPU.

Data moves between memory (and peripherals) and the CPU over the data bus, which is the set of lines that carry the actual data bits. The width of this bus—how many bits it can transfer at once—determines how much data can move in parallel and affects overall throughput. This pathway is separate from the address information, which travels on the address bus, and from internal registers like the Memory Address Register, Program Counter, or Accumulator, which hold data or addresses inside the CPU but aren’t the data conduit itself. The Memory Address Register stores the location to read from or write to, the Program Counter tracks the next instruction to fetch, and the Accumulator holds data for arithmetic operations. Therefore, the data bus is the correct route for transferring data between memory (or peripherals) and the CPU.