RAM - or Random Access Memory -(or sometimes just called Memory Chips)

is a bunch of computer chips that may look a lot like a CPU chip but they act differently. In fact there are about a dozen kinds of RAM chips. RAM holds computer information (data) inside until the information is emptied out and re-filled with more data, or until the power is turned off. "Random" means that, in most cases, the data can be send into a RAM and little "pockets" of memory get filled and later, emptied. Sometimes a particular piece of data stays in a particular place inside the RAM chip- and sometimes it moves out. Or it can be moved to a different part of the RAM chip. It can be, well, random! Wherever the data does sit, the CPU knows about it and when it needs a particular piece of data, it reaches into the RAM and gets the data. Or clears it out, Or moves it around. It's a very busy and chaotic place inside those RAM chips! One other thing about RAM, or "memory", is that the more memory your computer has the faster it will usually run because the CPU isn't constantly putting data into and out of them as much.

Maybe you don't want to get that close to a RAM chip in a computer. Would you prefer the RAM inside an MP3 player? Yes, that has a large capacity RAM chip in it. You can put ("write") music (in the form of computer data) into it. You can change the data (music). You can empty it if you want.