Chapter 1: Binary Systems and Hexadecimal
Chapter 1: Binary Systems and Hexadecimal
The circuits in a computer's processor are made up of billions of transistors. A transistor is a tiny switch that is
activated by the electronic signals it receives. The digits 1 and 0 used in binary reflect the on and off states of a
transistor.
Bits can be grouped together to make them easier to work with. A group of 8 bits is called a byte.
Most computers can process millions of bits every second. A hard drive's storage capacity is measured in gigabytes
or terabytes. RAM is often measured in megabytes or gigabytes.
A number base indicates how many digits are available within a numerical system.
The binary system is also known as base 2. Using the same method as denary, this gives the headings of
20, 21, 22, 23 and so on. The typical headings for a binary number with eight digits would be:
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
2.0 Place values
Each number has a place value which could be put into columns. Each column is a power of ten in the base 10
system:
You can also break a binary number down into place-value columns, but each column is a power of two
instead of a power of ten.
For example, take a binary number like 1001. The columns are arranged in multiples of 2 with the
binary number written below:
By looking at the place values, we can calculate the equivalent denary number.
To calculate a large binary number like 10101000 we need more place values of multiples of 2.
27 = 128
26 =64
25=32
24=16
23=8
22=4
21=2
20=1
In denary the sum is calculated as:
(1x27 ) + (0 x 26 ) + (1 x 25 ) + (0 x 24 ) + (1 x 23 ) + (0 x 22 ) + (0 x21 ) + (0x20 ) = 168
(1 x 128) + (0 x 64) + (1 x 32) + (0 x 16) + (1 x 8) + (0 x 4) + (0 x 2) + (0 x 1) = 128 + 32 + 8 = 168
The table below shows denary numbers down the left with their equivalent binary numbers marked out
below the base 2 columns. Each individual column in the table represents a different place value
equivalent to the base powers.
83 ÷ 2 = 41 remainder 1
41 ÷ 2 = 20 remainder 1
20 ÷ 2 = 10 remainder 0
10 ÷ 2 = 5 remainder 0
5 ÷ 2 = 2 remainder 1
2 ÷ 2 = 1 remainder 0
1 ÷ 2 = 0 remainder 1
Put the remainders in reverse order to get the final number: 1010011.
Put the remainders in reverse order to get the final number: 1111010.
Question:
Convert the following denary numbers into Binary
(a) 41
(b) 67
(c) 86
(d) 100
(e) 111
(f) 127
(g) 144
(h) 189