OVERVIEW OF NUMBERS BASES

REVIEW OF NUMBER BASES

Most computer system operates using binary logic. The binary number system works like the
decimal number system except that the binary number system except that the binary number
systems uses base 2, and its digits are 0 and 1.
The common number systems used in computing are:
 Base 10 is called decimal number system
 Base 2 is called binary numbers system
 Base 8 is called octal number system
 Base 16 is called hexadecimal number system
COMMON TERMS OF NUMBER SYSTEMS
a. Base: the base of a number indicates how many absolute values are used in the system.
For example in the decimal system there are ten absolute values represented by the digits
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. In binary system, there are only two absolute values (0.1,) and octal
system has eight absolute values (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7).
b. Absolute value: this denotes whole numbers represented by symbol(e.g. 6,7,8,4,5)
c. Position: in the decimal system the zero position has the positional value 100 or 1
Example:
Position
6 5 4 3 2 1 0
6 5 4 3 2 1
Positional value 2 2 2 2 2 2 20
64 32 16 8 4 2 1

BASES NAME DIGITS NO OF DIGITS

2 Binary 0,1 2
8 Octal 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7 8
10 Decimal 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 10
12 Duo - decimal 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B 12
16 Hexadecimal 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F 16

Binary System

Binary is the simplest kind of number system that uses only two digits of 0 and 1. By using these
digits computational problems can be solved by machines because in digital electronics a
transistor is used in two states. Those two states can be represented by 0 and 1. That is why this
 number system is the most preferred in modern computer engineer, networking and
communication specialists, and other professionals.

Decimal System

Decimal number system is the most commonly used and the most familiar one to the general
public. It is also known as Base 10 numbering system since it is based on 10 following symbols:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8and 9. In decimal system, every digit has its own position as well as the
decimal point. I.e. the number 356.74 has 4 in the Hundredths position, 7 in the Tenths position,
6 in the Units position, 5 in the Tens Position, and 3 in the Hundreds position. Decimal number
system is also one of the oldest known numeral system, which is historically related to Hindu-
Arabic numeral system

Table of binary number

BINARY NUMBER
DECIMAL NUMBERS IN BINARY NUMBERS
0 0 39 100111 78 1001110
1 1 40 101000 79 1001111
2 10 41 101001 80 1010000
3 11 42 101010 81 1010001
4 100 43 101011 82 1010010
5 101 44 101100 83 1010011
6 110 45 101101 84 1010100
7 111 46 101110 85 1010101
8 1000 47 101111 86 1010110
9 1001 48 110000 87 1010111
10 1010 49 110001 88 1011000
11 1011 50 110010 89 1011001
12 1100 51 110011 90 1011010
13 1101 52 110100 91 1011011
14 1110 53 110101 92 1011100
15 1111 54 110110 93 1011101
16 10000 55 110111 94 1011110
17 10001 56 111000 95 1011111
18 10010 57 111001 96 1100000
19 10011 58 111010 97 1100001
20 10100 59 111011 98 1100010
21 10101 60 111100 99 1100011
22 10110 61 111101 100 1100100
23 10111 62 111110
24 11000 63 111111
25 11001 64 1000000
26 11010 65 1000001
27 11011 66 1000010
28 11100 67 1000011
29 11101 68 1000100
30 11110 69 1000101
31 11111 70 1000110
32 100000 71 1000111
33 100001 72 1001000
34 100010 73 1001001
35 100011 74 1001010
36 100100 75 1001011
37 100101 76 1001100
38 100110 77 1001101

DECIMAL AND BINARY NUMBER BASES

CONVERSION FROM DECIMAL TO BINARY
In converting to decimal, we divide the decimal (whole number/integer) successively by 2, recording the
remainder from each division.
Example: convert 20 to binary
Solution:
2 – 20
2 – 10 R 0
2–5 R0
2 –2 R 1
2–1 R0
2 –0 R 1

20 10 = 101100

CONVERSION FROM BINARY TO DECIMAL

Here, positional values are assigned to the binary numbers as powers, with the right most digits as zero
position.
Example:
Convert 100012 to base 10 (decimal)
100012 = 14 03 02 01 10
1x24 + 0 x 23 + 0 x22 + 0 x 21 1 x 20
16 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 1710

CONVERSION OF NUMBERS FROM ONE BASE TO ANOTHER

DECIMAL TO OTHERS
To convert from base 10 to any number system, the given number is divided continuously by the base number
being converted to, until it is no longer divisible.
Example:
Convert 34510 to base 2
 2 345
2 162 R1
2 81 R0
2 40 R1
2 20 R0
2 10 R0
2 5 R0
2 2 R0
2 1 R0
2 0 R1

34510 = 1000001012
OCTAL NUMBERS SYSTEM
The octal system has a base of eight(8). That is, it involves 8 absolute numbers which range from 0 to 7
(0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7)and has positional values which are powers of 8.

Below is the relationship of the octal system with binary and decimal.
DECIMAL OCTAL BINARY
1 1 1
2 2 10
3 3 11
4 4 100
5 5 101
6 6 110
7 7 111
8 10 1000
9 11 1001
10 12 1010
CONVERSION FROM OCTAL DECIMAL
Conversion from octal to decimal system is more or less like the conversion from binary to decimal. First,
determine the positional value. Secondly, each digit of the octal number is multiplied by eight (8)raised to the
power of the position.
Example:
Convert 17078 to decimal (10)
1707 = 13 72 01 70
1 x 83+ 7 x 82 + 0 x 8 + 7 x 80
512 + 448 + 0 + 7 = 96710
17078 = 96710
Convert 345 to base 8
8 345
8 43 R1
 8 5 R3
8 0 R 5

34510 = 5318
HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM
The hexadecimal number system has base of 16 absolute numbers. It is represented by values
(0,1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F) and has positional values which are in the powers of 16.
The table below shows the relationship between the four common number systems.
Decimal Octal Binary hexadecimal
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 11 3
4 4 100 4
5 5 101 5
6 6 110 6
7 7 111 7
8 10 1000 8
9 11 1001 9
10 12 1010 A
11 13 1011 B
12 14 1100 C
13 15 1101 D
14 16 1110 E
15 17 1111 F
16 20 10000 10
17 21 10001 11
18 22 10010 12
19 13 10011 13
20 24 10100 14

CONVERSION FROM DECIMAL TO HEXADECIMAL

The procedure is to divide the figure in base 10 by 16 until the quotient becomes 0
Example:
Convert 68710 to hexadecimal (base 16)
Solution:
16 / 687
16 / 42 r 15 =F
16 / 2 R 10 = A
0R2
68710 = 2FA16
CONVERSION FROM HEXADECIMAL TO BASE 10 (DECIMAL)
The procedure of converting to decimal from other bases still holds true here. The positional value is
determined by each digit in hexadecimal, multiplied by 16 raised to the power of the position.
Example:
Convert 2C516 to base 10(decimal)
2C5 = 22 C1 50
From the table above C = 12 in decimal
2C5 = 2 X 162 + 12 X 161 + 5 X 160
= 512 + 192 + 5
= 70910
2C516 = 70910