A ____ is an emulation of a physical machine.

A virtual machine is an emulation of a physical machine, allowing multiple operating systems to run on a single physical hardware platform. It creates a simulated environment that behaves like a physical computer, enabling users to run applications in isolation and test software configurations without impacting the host system. This concept is fundamental in virtualization technology, where resources of the physical machine, including CPU, memory, and storage, are shared among the virtual machines.

In contrast, a BIOS is a firmware interface that initializes hardware during the booting process and does not emulate hardware. A driver is software that allows the operating system to communicate with hardware devices, while a kernel is the core part of the operating system responsible for managing system resources and communication between hardware and software. These components serve different purposes and do not function as emulations of physical machines.