Paper 1 Theory Unit 1 Binary and Hexadecimal Number Systems
Paper 1 Theory Unit 1 Binary and Hexadecimal Number Systems
The Binary Number System:- We are more familiar with the DENARY NUMBER system
No Matter how complex a Computer System which counts in the multiples of 10’s which leads us to the more
May be the basic building block in all computer known headings 10s, 100s, 1000s and so on.
systems is always the BINARY NUMBER
103=1000 102=100 101=10 100=1
SYSTEM. Since the computer is essentially
made up of million and millions of tiny Similarly the BINARY NUMBER system is based on the number 2 therefore
‘switches’ that are either ON (1) or OFF (0). there are only two values 0 and 1 that can be used to represent each digit.
Using the same method as denary the headings can be as follows:-
Converting from Binary to Denary 27=128 26=64 25=32 24=16 23=8 22=4 21=2 20=1
Converting a binary byte (8 bits)
01101101 to Denary by adding the 7 6 5 4 3
corresponding values on the first row all 2 =128 2 =64 2 =32 2 =16 2 =8 22=4 21=2 20=1
the bits that are valued ‘1’ and the ‘0’ are 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1
simply ignored.
Therefore 64+32+8+4+1 = 109
Trial and Error Method:- Repetitive Division:-
Converting from Denary to Binary converting denary
Consider the conversion of the denary
This process is slightly more complex, and 246 to binary
number, 107, into binary. This method
there are two methods for doing this. (1) 246 / 2 à 123 remainder 0
involves placing ls in the appropriate
Trial and Error method (2) Repetitive 123 / 2 à 61 remainder 1
position so that the total equates to 107.
Division Method. 61 / 2 à 30 remainder 1
30 / 2 à 15 remainder 0
15 / 2 à 7 remainder 1
7 / 2 à 3 remainder 1
Measurement of the Size of Computers Memories:- 3 / 2 à 1 remainder 1
A BINARY DIGIT is referred to as BIT. 8 Bits make a BYTE. The Byte is the smallest 1 / 2 à 0 remainder 1
unit for Data Storage. Even if the computer allows for larger bytes (16 bit or 32 bit) they Reading the Remainders from BOTTOM to
are always a multiple of 8. A byte is really small and won’t allow storage of much data TOP results in 11110110.
that is why we need multiples of BYTES.
To give some idea of how these numbers work
consider the following example:-
- With a data transfer rate of 32megabits per second
(or 4MB/sec) a 40MB file will take 10seconds to
download.
- And a 2TB storage device can store over half a
million 4MB photos.