Which term describes an address generated by the CPU during program execution that is translated to a physical address by the memory management unit?

• A. Virtual Address
• B. Physical Address
• C. Logical Address
• D. Heap Address

Answer: (A)

In virtual memory systems, the CPU generates addresses in its own virtual address space as it runs a program. The memory management unit then translates that virtual address into a location in physical RAM, producing a physical address. So the term that describes the address produced by the CPU and later translated by the MMU is the virtual address. The physical address is the actual RAM location after translation. The heap address refers to a region used for dynamic memory allocation, not to the translated address concept. Logical address is sometimes used synonymously with virtual address in some contexts, but the standard description here centers on the virtual address as the one the CPU generates and that the MMU maps to a physical address.