What is the purpose of an address bus in a computer?

The address bus in a computer serves the critical function of specifying a physical address in memory where data is to be read from or written to. This bus is a set of parallel wires or traces that carries the address signal from the processor to memory or other components in order to access the correct location in memory. The width of the address bus, which is determined by the number of lines it has, directly affects the amount of memory the processor can address. For example, a 32-bit address bus can address up to 4 gigabytes of memory.

While the other choices describe functions that are important to computer operations, they do not accurately describe the specific job of the address bus. The transfer of data between components pertains to the data bus, not the address bus. Executing memory operations is not a function of the address bus itself, as it is dependent on the control signals generated by the processor. Managing input and output devices involves I/O buses or controllers, which is distinct from the role of the address bus in accessing memory locations directly.