What is a Kernel in Linux?

Let me help you understand kernel

What is Linux Kernel?

It acts as an interpreter between Linux OS and its hardware. It is the fundamental component of Linux OS and contains hardware drivers for the devices installed on the system. The kernel is a part of the system which loads first and it stays on the memory.

A monolithic kernel is set up so that all the drivers are compiled in the kernel. There's no need for the user to load any modules. However when you install new drivers, you need to recompile the kernel. As a result kernel becomes larger and slower ans requires more memory.

A modular kernel is set up so that most hardware drivers are compiled as modules. As a result you don't have to recompile the kernel when installing new hardware devices.

In practice kernels are combination of monolithic and modular kernels where some drivers are compiled into the kernel and some are compiled as modules.

The Linux kernel acts as a mediator between system's hardware and software.

It is also responsible for memory management and multiplexing

It divides a CPUs processing capacity between application so that they can run simultaneously