Random access memory also known as RAM for short stores data and programs that are going to be needed to be used by the CPU.The reason for this is because your CPU can only process a certain amount of data at a time so any data that needs to be proceed by the CPU needs to get stored somewhere while the CPU process the first tasks it receives.
RAM today has billions of bytes of memories in their ram chips. Most computers today have between 256MB to 2GB of ram but there are also computers like servers that have much more Gigabits of ram. Ram is generally long and rectangular although there are many different types of RAM. RAM fits straight into your motherboard and is secured with 2 clips that hold it into place. You are most likely going to find dual inline memory module (DIMM )RAM in computers today.
For more information on RAM and different types/speeds and any other information please go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_access_memory
