What defines the Internet and the World Wide Web as distinct entities?

The Internet is the global network of computers, while the World Wide Web is a system of information accessed via the Internet.

The Internet, short for 'interconnected network', is a vast global system that connects computer networks from around the world together. It is essentially a network of networks, where any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. The connection is made through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as protocols.

The World Wide Web, often referred to as the 'web', is a way of accessing information over the Internet. It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. The web uses the HTTP protocol, one of the languages spoken over the Internet, to transmit data. The web also utilises browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, to access web documents called webpages that are linked to each other via hyperlinks. The web is just one of the ways that information can be disseminated over the Internet; others include email, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites, and instant messaging services.

In essence, the Internet is the infrastructure, the physical 'nuts and bolts' – whether that's the cables that connect computers, the wireless signals, or the routers, servers, and data centres that make up the network. The web, on the other hand, is a service built on top of this infrastructure. It's a collection of documents, images, videos, and other resources, linked together by hyperlinks and URLs.

So, while the terms are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation, they represent different things. The Internet is the physical network, while the web is a service that operates over this network.