IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.

RAZA

June 2019 Paper 11, question 1

1 Hexadecimal is used for MAC addresses.

Part of a MAC address is given:

97 – 5C – E1

Each pair of digits is stored as binary in an 8-bit register.

(a) Show what the binary register stores for each pair of the given digits.
97

5C

E1

[6]

(b) Explain what is meant by a MAC address.

...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(c) Give two other examples where hexadecimal can be used.

Example 1 .................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................

Example 2 .................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................... [2]

June 2019 Paper 13, question 1(a)

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

1 Victoria is building a website for her cake design business.

(a) She uses the hexadecimal colour code #D2E3F5 as the background colour for her website. The
colour code is stored in two 12-bit binary registers. Show how the code would be stored in the
registers.

D2E

3F5
[6]
March 2019 Paper 12, question 3(a)/0478

(a) A long distance running race uses an electronic counter that counts each competitor who finishes the
race.

The count is stored as binary in a 12-bit register.

A denary value of the count is displayed on a screen above the finish line.

(i) The screen currently displays:

0039
State the binary value that is currently stored to display the count shown.
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [2]
(ii) More competitors cross the finish line and the screen now displays:
0350
State the binary value that is currently stored to display the count shown.
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [2]
(iii) At the end of the race the binary value stored is:
011011000111
Give the denary value that would be displayed on the screen at the end of the race. Show your
working.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
Screen display:
...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

Nov 2019 Paper 11, question 2

2 An electronic guessing game compares denary integer values input by a user with pre-stored values.
The pre-stored values are held in 10-bit binary format.

(a) Convert the binary values in the table to denary.

Binary Denary
0001001110
0110110111
1000000001
[3]
(b) When planning the game, the designer decided to use hexadecimal notation to represent the
binary values. Explain why the designer used hexadecimal notation.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [2]
(c) State the hexadecimal equivalent of the binary value 1010110101
.............................................................................................................................................[3]

Nov 2019 Paper 12, question 4

4 An 8-bit binary register contains the value:

0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0

(a) Convert the binary value to denary.

...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [1]
(b) The contents of the register shifted one place to the right would give the result

0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0

The contents of the register shown at the start of question 4 are shifted two places to the left.
Show the contents of the register after this shift has taken place.

[1]
(c) State the effect this shift has on the denary value in part (a).
...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [1]

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

Nov 2019 Paper 13, question 1(c)(i)

(c) The library has a website that customers can use to search for a book.
(i) The website has a background colour with the hexadecimal colour code #F92A10
The colour code is stored in two 12-bit binary registers.
Show how the colour code would be stored in the registers.

F92

A10

[6]
March 2020 Paper 12, question 5
5 Programmers can use denary and hexadecimal values. These values are stored in a computer system
using binary.
(a) Explain why binary is used to store data in a computer system.
...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
[2]
(b)Complete the table to show how the denary value would be stored as binary in an 8-bit
register.

Denary 8-bit register

129
56
[2]
Working space
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...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
(c) Complete the table to show how the hexadecimal value 3A9 would be stored as binary in a
12-bit register

[3]

(d) Identify two uses of hexadecimal values in computer science.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2................................................................................................................................................ [2]

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

June 2020 Paper 11, question 9(d)

(d) A low-level language needs to be converted to binary before it can be processed by a
computer.

(i) Give the 8-bit binary value of the two denary values:

180 ....................................................................................................................................

201 .................................................................................................................................... [2]

Working space
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................

(ii) Give the 12-bit binary value of the denary value

250. ..................................................................................................................................... [1]

Working space
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................

(iii) Binary can be represented as hexadecimal to make it easier to read.

Give the hexadecimal values of the 8-bit binary values:

10010011 ...........................................................................................................................
00011101 ........................................................................................................................... [2]

June 2020 Paper 12, question 7

7 (a) Give the denary value of each of the three 12-bit binary values.

(i) 000000001100
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(ii) 000011000110
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(iii) 010011000001
..................................................................................................................................... [1]

Working space
...................................................................................................................................................

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

...................................................................................................................................................
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(b) 12-bit binary values can also be represented as hexadecimal values.

Give the hexadecimal value of the 12-bit binary value.
000011101001
............................................................................................................................................. [3]
June 2020 Paper 13, question 1
1.Pradeep is reading hexadecimal values for a project he is working on.

(a)The first three hexadecimal values he reads are 15, 102 and A9.

Give the denary values for the three hexadecimal values.

15..............................................................................................................................................

102 ...........................................................................................................................................

A9 ............................................................................................................................................. [3]

Working space

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...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................

(c) Pradeep has two 8-bit binary values that he needs to convert to hexadecimal values for his
project.
Give the hexadecimal values for the two 8-bit binary values.
(d) 01010000
.................................................................................................................................. 00111101
.................................................................................................................................. [4]

2023 Specimen Paper 1, question 1

1 A school network has several computers.

Each computer in the network has a media access control (MAC) address.
Hexadecimal is used for MAC addresses. Part of a MAC address is given.
97–5C–E1
Each pair of digits is stored as binary in an 8-bit register.
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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

(a) Complete the binary register for these two pairs of digits.

97

5C

[4]
(b) Describe what is meant by a MAC address.
...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................. [4]
(c) Give two other uses of hexadecimal in computer science.
1................................................................................................................................................
2........................................................................................................................................... [2]

(d) Another value is stored as binary in a register

0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
(i) A logical left shift of two places is performed on the binary value. Complete the binary
register to show its contents after this logical left shift.

[1]

(ii) State one effect this logical shift has on the binary value.
...........................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................... [1]

(e) Negative denary numbers can also be represented as binary using two’s complement. Complete
the binary register for the denary value −54.

You must show all your working.

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

Working space...........................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
Register:

[2]
March 2019 Paper 12, question 1

1 (a) Elle has a file stored on her computer that is 20 MB in size. Jordan has a file that is 10GB in size.

Tick to show which is the larger file. [1]

File size Tick

20MB
10GB
(b) Bob has a file stored on his computer that is 3500kB in size.Gerty has a file that is 3MB in size.

Tick to show which is the larger file. [1]

File size Tick

3500kB
3MB

June 2019 Paper 12, question 4(b)

(b) (i) Marley also needs to store ten 8-bit colour images in a file for his project.
Each image is 500 pixels wide and 300 pixels high.
Calculate the total file size in megabytes (MB) for all Marley’s images.
Show all your working.
...........................................................................................................................................
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...........................................................................................................................................
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File size ....................................................... MB [3]
(ii) Marley prints the images for his project using an inkjet printer.
Describe how the inkjet printer prints an image.
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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

...........................................................................................................................................
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Nov 2019 Paper 11, question 6(d)

(d) The program files for the games are compressed before they are published on the Internet.
(i) Describe one benefit of compressing the program files.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [2]
(ii) State whether lossy or lossless compression should be used.
..................................................................................................................................... [1]

Nov 2019 Paper 12, question 5(a) and 5(b)

5 Audrey wants to send a sound file to Nico using email. The file is too large to attach to an email so
Audrey decides to compress the file. She uses lossy compression to reduce the size of the sound
file.
(a) Describe how lossy compression reduces the size of the sound file.
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(b) Nico asks Audrey why she used lossy compression rather than lossless.
(i) State one advantage Audrey could give of using lossy rather than lossless to compress the sound
file.
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [1]

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IGCSE / O-LEVEL Computer Science COMPILED BY SYED M.RAZA

(ii) State one disadvantage Nico could give of using lossy rather than lossless to compress the sound
file.
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [1]

Nov 2019 Paper 13, question 1(c)(ii)

(ii) Videos on the library website show customers which books the library will soon have in stock.
The library wants the file size of a video to be as small as possible.
Identify and describe a method the library could use to reduce the file size of a video as much as
possible.
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March 2020 Paper 12, question 3(d)

(d) Priya shares her sound files with other students. Before sharing the sound files, she compresses
the files using lossless compression.
Describe how lossless compression reduces the size of a sound file.
...................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................. [2]
June 2020 Paper 11, question 3(c)
(c) Carla wants to reduce the file size of the photos she has transferred to her computer. She does not
want the quality of the photos to be reduced, so she uses lossless compression.
Describe how lossless compression reduces the file size of the photos.
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IGCSE / O-Level – Computer Science
COMPILED BY S.M.RAZA

9618/11/M/J/21

1 Anya scans an image into her computer for a school project.

(a) The scanned image is a bitmapped image.

(i) Complete the following table to describe the two terms about graphics.

Term Description

...........................................................................................................................
Pixel ...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................
File header ...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

[2]

(ii) The image is scanned with an image resolution of 1024 × 512 pixels, and a colour depth
of 8 bits per pixel.

Calculate an estimate for the file size, giving your answer in mebibytes. Show your
working.

Working .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
Answer .......................................... mebibytes
[3]

(b) The image is compressed using lossless compression.

Identify one method of lossless compression that can be used to compress the image and
describe how the method will reduce the file size.

Lossless compression method .................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]
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IGCSE / O-Level – Computer Science
COMPILED BY S.M.RAZA

(c) One of the colours used in the image has the hexadecimal colour code:

#FC238A

FC is the amount of red, 23 is the amount of green and 8A is the amount of blue in the colour.

(i) Convert the hexadecimal code FC into denary.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) The amount of green in binary is 00100011. This has the denary number 15 added to it
to create a second colour.

Add the denary number 15 to the binary number 00100011 and give your answer in
binary.

Perform the addition in binary. Show your working.

Working .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Answer (in binary) ........................................ [3]

(iii) Hexadecimal 23 in two’s complement representation is 00100011. The denary number

10 needs to be subtracted from this value.

Subtract the denary number 10 from the two’s complement representation 00100011.

Give your answer in binary. Show your working.

Working .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Answer (in binary) ........................................ [3]

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9608/11 Jun 18 Q2

2 A logo is designed as a bitmap image.

(a) Describe what is meant by a bitmap image.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................[2]

(b) A black and white bitmap image is shown.

(i) Explain how a computer can store this bitmap image.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[2]

(ii) The image is compressed before it is attached to an email.

Explain how run-length encoding (RLE) will compress the image.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[2]

(c) The finished logo is 500 pixels by 1000 pixels and uses 35 different colours.

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 Estimate the file size for the logo. Give your answer in kilobytes. Show your working.

Working .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Answer ......................................................................................................................................
[4]
9608/11 Jun 18 8c

(c) X is a register. The current contents of X are:

1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1

(i) The current contents of register X represent an unsigned binary integer.

Convert the value in X into denary.

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) The current contents of register X represent a Binary Coded Decimal.

Convert the value in X into denary.

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(iii) The current contents of register X stores a two’s complement binary integer.

Convert the value in X into denary.

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

9608/11 Jun 17 Q3, 4d

3 (a) A computer has a microphone and captures a voice recording using sound recording software.
Before making a recording, the user can select the sampling rate.
Define the term sampling rate. Explain how the sampling rate will influence the accuracy
Of the digitized sound.

Sampling rate ...........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]
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 (b) The computer also has bitmap software.

(i) Define the terms pixel and screen resolution.

Pixel ...................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

. Screen resolution

..............................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) A picture has been drawn and is saved as a monochrome bitmap image.

State how many pixels are stored in one byte.

....................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) A second picture has width 2048 pixels and height 512 pixels. It is saved as a 256-
colour image.

Calculate the file size in

kilobytes. Show your working.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[3]

(iv) The actual bitmap file size will be larger than your calculated value.

State another data item that the bitmap file stores in addition to the pixel data.

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

9608/11 Jun 17 4d

(d) Computer scientists often write binary representations in hexadecimal.

(i) Write the hexadecimal representation for this instruction:

Http://SirRazaAcademy.com Ch2 Data Representation 5

 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

.......................................................................................................................................[2]

(ii) A second instruction has been written in hexadecimal as:

05 3F

Write the equivalent assembly language instruction, with the operand in denary.

.......................................................................................................................................[2]

9608/12 Jun 18 Q4

4 (a) The Accumulator is a register. The current contents of the Accumulator are:

1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1

The current contents of the Accumulator represent an unsigned binary integer.

(i) Convert the value in the Accumulator into denary.

....................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Convert the value in the Accumulator into hexadecimal.

....................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) The current contents of the Accumulator represent a two’s complement binary integer.

Convert the value in the Accumulator into denary.

....................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Explain the differences between the ASCII and Unicode character sets.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................... [2]

(iii) The ASCII code for ‘A’ is 41 in hexadecimal.

Calculate the ASCII code in hexadecimal for ‘Z’. Show your working.

Working .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
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 ASCII code in hexadecimal for ‘Z’ .....................................................................................
[2]
9608/12 Jun 18 Q5
5 A student has recorded a sound track for a short film.

(a) Explain how an analogue sound wave is sampled to convert it into digital format.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [3]

(b) Explain the effects of increasing the sampling resolution on the sound file.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [2]

(c) The original sound was sampled at 44.1 kHz. The sample rate is changed to 22.05 kHz.

Explain the effects of this change on the sound file.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [3]

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 (b) The computer also has bitmap software.

(i) Define the term image resolution.

...........................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) A picture is drawn and is saved as a 16-colour bitmap image.

State how many bits are used to encode the data for one pixel.

....................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) A second picture has width 8192 pixels and height 256 pixels. It is saved as a 256-
colour bitmap.

Calculate the file size in

kilobytes. Show your working.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................... [3]

(iv) The actual bitmap file size will be larger than your calculated value as a bitmap file has
a file header.
State two items of data that are stored in the file header.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 .................................................................................................................................... [2]

9608/13 Jun 18 Q3c,

(c) H is a register. The current contents of H are:

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

The current contents of register H represent an unsigned binary integer.

(i) Convert the value in register H into denary.

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) Convert the value in register H into hexadecimal.

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(iii) The current contents of register H represent a two’s complement binary integer.

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 Convert the value in register H into denary.

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(iv) State why register H does not currently contain a Binary Coded Decimal (BCD).

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

9608/13 Jun 18 Q6 a-d

6 A black and white bitmap image is shown.

(a) State the minimum number of bits needed to represent each pixel in this image.

...............................................................................................................................................[1]

(b) Run-length encoding (RLE) is used to store the image with the following colour codes.

Colour Code
Black 1A
White 3B

Show how run-length encoding is used to store the image.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................[3]

(c) An image has 30 different colours.

State the minimum number of bits needed to represent each pixel in the 30-colour image.

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 ...............................................................................................................................................[1]

(d) When the image is saved, a header is added to the file.

State the purpose of the file header. Give two examples of the file header contents.

Purpose ....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Example 1 .................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Example 2 .................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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