Final answer:
To calculate the number of instructions executed during a program's runtime of 360 ns on a computer with a 3 GHz clock frequency, multiply the runtime in seconds by the frequency to get 1080 cycles, which translates to 1080 instructions assuming one instruction per cycle.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a computer has a clock frequency of 3 GHz (which is equivalent to 3 billion cycles per second) and a program on that computer has a runtime of 360 nanoseconds (ns), we can calculate the number of instructions executed during the program's runtime by first determining the number of cycles that occur in 360 ns and then assuming one instruction per cycle.
First, we convert the runtime from nanoseconds to seconds: 360 ns = 360 × 10-9 seconds. Next, we multiply this time by the clock frequency to find the number of cycles: 360 × 10-9 seconds × 3 × 109 cycles/second = 1080 cycles.
Assuming the program executes one instruction per cycle, which is a typical assumption for theoretical calculations, we would conclude that the program executes 1080 instructions during its runtime of 360 ns.