Ram

Ram, in the Bible.

1 Ancestor of David. In the New Testament he is called Aram.

2 Son of Jerahmeel.

3 Ancestor of Elihu.

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ram

Projection fixed to the front end of a fighting vessel and designed to damage enemy ships struck by it. It may have been developed by the Egyptians as early as 1200 BC, but it was most commonly used on Phoenician, Greek, and Roman galleys. It was briefly revived in the mid-19th century, notably in the American Civil War, when rams mounted on armored, steam-driven warships were used effectively against wooden sailing ships. Improvements in naval weaponry and the spread of metal-hulled ships soon made it obsolete again. See also battering ram.

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RAM

 in full random-access memory

Computer main memory in which specific contents can be accessed (read or written) directly by the CPU in a very short time regardless of the sequence (and hence location) in which they were recorded. Two types of memory are possible with random-access circuits, static RAM (SRAM) and dynamic RAM (DRAM). A single memory chip is made up of several million memory cells. In a SRAM chip, each memory cell stores a binary digit (1 or 0) for as long as power is supplied. In a DRAM chip, the charge on individual memory cells must be refreshed periodically in order to retain data. Because it has fewer components, DRAM requires less chip area than SRAM; hence a DRAM chip can hold more memory, though its access time is slower.

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RAM

(Random Access Memory) A type of computer memory that provides direct access to any single location (any byte). RAM chips are "byte addressable." The contents of any byte can be read or written without regard to the bytes before or after it. The term generally refers to main memory, which is the computer's workspace, and the most common type of RAM is the DRAM chip (see dynamic RAM and memory module). To learn more about how memory works, see computer and memory.

RAM read and write speeds are generally the same, taking no longer to write a byte than it does to read one. In contrast, writing to flash memory takes longer than reading (see flash memory). Also in contrast, hard disk drives are not byte addressable. The smallest unit of data that can be read or written to a hard disk is typically 512 bytes (see magnetic disk). See future memory chips, memory types and static RAM.

Some Old Fashioned RAM

Hardly a chip, this magnetic drum was the memory in the IBM 650 computer in the mid-1950s. About a foot and a half long, it held 20,000 digits. That much memory today would easily fit within this letter "o," with room to spare. See also core storage and early memories. (Image courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library.)

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ram

1. an uncastrated adult sheep

2. a piston or moving plate, esp one driven hydraulically or pneumatically

3. the falling weight of a pile driver or similar device

4. a pointed projection in the stem of an ancient warship for puncturing the hull of enemy ships

5. a warship equipped with a ram

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RAM Computing

random access memory: semiconductor memory in which all storage locations can be rapidly accessed in the same amount of time. It forms the main memory of a computer, used by applications to perform tasks while the device is operating

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ram [ram]

(aerospace engineering)

The forward motion of an air scoop or air inlet through the air.

(hydrology)

An underwater ledge or projection from an ice wall, ice front, iceberg, or floe, usually caused by the more intensive melting and erosion of the unsubmerged part. Also known as apron; spur.

(mechanical engineering)

A plunger, weight, or other guided structure for exerting pressure or drawing something by impact.

(mining engineering)

barney

(vertebrate zoology)

A male sheep or goat.

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Ram [ram]

(astronomy)

Aries

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RAM [ram]

(computer science)

random-access memory

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RAM - Random Access Memory

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Ram 

the male of the sheep; the sire. The best rams for standardizing the breed are used as sires, and the remainder are castrated and bred for wool and meat.

Rams reach sexual maturity at four or five months, even earlier in early-maturing breeds. From that time on, the young males are separated from the young and mature ewes. Rams are put to stud from one-and-a-half to seven or eight years of age. The progeny of each sire numbers in the hundreds and with artificial insemination can number thousands; therefore, correct selection has great importance in the reproduction of the herd. The sire should be typical for the breed, of a strong constitution with no physical defects, healthy, energetic, and capable of transmitting these valuable qualities to the offspring. Lambs of the best parents are chosen to be raised as sires. They are culled at birth, at the age of three-and-a-half or four months, and again at one year of age. At the age of one-and-a-half, the ram is paired with 50 or 100 ewes and is evaluated according to the quality of the offspring.

The ram is put to stud three or four times a day. During the mating season (45 days), with artificial insemination, the sperm of one ram can usually fertilize 200 to 500 ewes, and on the most advanced farms, up to 3,000. Under penned conditions, one ram can service for 60 to 100 ewes; unpenned, one ram can service 20 to 30. The younger rams have a lighter stud load. The quality of the sperm is systematically tested. Rams must be kept under stud conditions. During the mating season, the feed for sires should be higher than average (but obesity must not be allowed). Rations should be rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. The best feed for rams is leguminous hay, root plants, silage, oats, barley, and millet. Breeding rams are kept in a separate group. They must have five or six hours of exercise each day.

A. NIKOLAEV