RAM is volatile storage, meaning when the power is cut the information/data on it is lost. While the PC is running applications use the RAM as it is accessed a lot quicker than a Hard Drive or CD-Rom. Google Definition of RAM Hope that helps.
Well strictly speaking, yes it can hold important data. But by that I mean any work which is not saved and isn't saved automatically. Apart from that its only used as a temporary memory for the CPU to access data.
