
Computer hardware is the gang of physical parts of a computer system. This encompasses the computer case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It also encompasses all the parts inside the computer case, such as the hard disk drive, motherboard, video card, and many others. Computer hardware is what you can physically touch.
By contrast, software is instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. Hardware is so-termed because it is “hard” or rigid with respect to changes or modifications; whereas software is “soft” because it is easy to update or change.