Whenever the word "mother" gets thrown in front of another word, whether it's

• land
• ship
• house
• hood

you know that you're dealing with something that's kind-of a big deal. The motherboard's also a big deal in computer science. Instead of doing things like directing a star fleet or making people homesick, the motherboard wakes up the hardware in the computer to let them know it's time to start running again. In computer circuitry, the motherboard is the mob boss. Everything's connected to it and listens when it says something.

"Listen: you're going to make the monitor an offer it can't refuse."
(Source)

Along with all the parts that turn everything on, you can also find the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) on the motherboard. The CMOS chip is in charge of maintaining constant information in the computer even when it's off. When you power up the computer and its clock matches your cell phone, you can think the CMOS for staying on and keeping track of the days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

To stay on while the computer's off, the CMOS chip has to be able to run on low power. It has its own, replaceable battery (also stored on the motherboard) to go even when the rest of the computer has no power. If that battery ever dies, you have two options:

• Glue a stick to the top of your computer and use it as a sundial
• Get the CMOS's battery replaced

(We recommend the second option, by the way.)

A desktop computer's motherboard usually has a couple of expansion slots you could use to add components like a video or graphics card. Disclaimer: those expansion slots sit inside the computer case, so you'll usually want a trained technician to add in your motherboard expansions.

Or try it yourself on a cheap computer. You can always call it a learning experience afterwards, but whoever bought the computer probably won't be too happy if it's anywhere near expensive.

We're just sayin'.