Module 1 - Lesson 03: 2’s Complement

and Arithmetic Operations

Complement Math
Unfortunately, computers do not have the capabilities to subtract binary numbers. Therefore,
something like:
x=5–2 becomes x = 5 + (-2)

The TENS complement X, of an n-digit number N is X = 10n – N

 TENS complement of 8 is 2 (101 – 8 = 2)

 TENS complement of 90 is 10 (102 – 90 = 10)
 TENS complement of 350 is 650 (103 – 350 = 650)

The NINES complement is determined by subtracting each digit in the decimal number from the decimal
digit 9.

Therefore:

NINES complement = TENS complement – 1 OR TENS complement = NINES complement + 1

Examples:

The TENS complement of(7)10 , (319)10, and (14827)10 :

10 1000 100000
-7 - 319 - 14827
3 681 85173

The NINES complement of(7)10 , (319)10, and (14827)10 :

9 999 99999
-7 - 319 - 14827
2 680 85172

Consider the following: 23456 minuend

- 14827 subtrahend
8629

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 1
We can also achieve the same result by adding the TENS complement of the subtrahend and then
subtracting 10n:

23456 + (100000 – 14827) – 100000 = 8629

The advantage of using this method is that you never need to borrow a place value. Complement
addition replaces binary subtraction in computer arithmetic.

Binary Complements

The TWOS complement, X, of an n-bit binary number N is X = 2n – N

Example: If N = 101010, the TWOS complement is 26 – 101010 = 1000000 – 101010 = 010110

The ONES complement is determined by subtracting each bit in the binary number from 1. Therefore
the ONES complement of 101010 is:
111111
- 101010
010101

Notice that the ONES complement can be found easily by “flipping” or “switching” each bit.

Since TWOS complement is equivalent to the ONES complement + 1, we can use the following algorithm
to get the TWOS complement of a binary number:

1. Get the ONES complement by “flipping” each bit in the binary number (change all 0’s to 1’s and
all 1’s to 0’s).
2. Add 1 to the ONES complement.

Example: Find the TWOS complement of 10010101.

01101010 + 1 = 01101011

Exercise 3: Find the TWOS complement of the following binary numbers:

110111011 0110001000

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 2
Negative Binary Numbers
How are negative numbers represented and used in a computer?

We must consider the following:

1. How do we represent the negative sign?
2. When performing calculations with negative numbers, extra care is required with regards to bit
field length (how many bits represent each number)
3. Bit field extension may be required (performing an operation that results in the bit field length
being too small for the answer)

Representing the Negative Sign in Binary

a) We can dedicate the Most Significant Bit (left-most bit) to indicate the sign of the number

The bits to the left of the most significant bit indicate the number’s magnitude. This is
known as sign-magnitude. This method makes it easy to identify whether a number is
negative, BUT there are two representations of zero and addition does not always work
properly.

b) Use the ONES complement of a number to represent its negative value

This method also gives two representations of the number zero.

c) ** Use the TWOS complement of a number to represent its negative value **

This is the most common method to represent negative numbers.

The most significant bit (left-most bit):

 ALWAYS 1 if the number is NEGATIVE

 ALWAYS 0 when a number is NON-NEGATIVE

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 3
 1. Bit Field Length

When working with negative binary numbers it is imperative to pick a bit field length and use that
same length throughout the calculation. Bit field length must be the same for both numbers in the
calculation.

Example:

We decide to use a bit field length of 4 to represent the numbers from -8 (TWOS complement of 8 is
1000) to 7 (0111). The number line for a 4-bit field looks like the following:

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1101 1110 1111 0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111

When finding the TWOS complement of a number, we use the entire bit field length to calculate the
complement.

TWOS complement of (3)dec with 4-bit field length is: 0011

1100 [ ONES complement ]
+ 1
1101 [ TWOS complement or (-3)dec ]
Working with fixed bit lengths is fine when adding two numbers of opposite signs. The resulting
sum is ALWAYS correct within the fixed bit length.

Example: (1)dec + (-1)dec

0001
+1111
10000

The answer is 10000bin. Since we are using a fixed bit length of 4, we just discard the left-most bit
to get an answer of 0000 or (0) dec.

**NOTE** The answer is NOT (16)dec!

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 4
 Subtracting in the binary number system:

To subtract a binary number, we “add the opposite” (the TWOS complement).

1. Convert the subtrahend to its TWOS complement.

2. Add the TWOS complement to the minuend.
3. If the result extends beyond the bit field length of the minuend and subtrahend, the extra bit
can be discarded.

Examples: Evaluate 1001 – 0011 Evaluate (25) dec – (37) dec

Evaluate (-3) dec – (4) dec

Exercise 4: Evaluate the following:

(67) 10 – (32) 10 (-9) 10 – (5) 10 011001 – 010010

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 5
2. Bit Field Extension

When numbers are the same sign, using a fixed bit length may cause issues. It may be that an extra
bit is required for the correct answer. This is called overflow.

Examples:

0 1 0 1 = 5 1 1 0 0 = - 4
+ 0 1 1 1 = + 7 + 1 0 0 1 = - 7
1 0 0 0 ≠ 12 0 1 0 1 ≠ - 11

Note that the sign of the result is different than the sign of both addends!

General Rules for Bit Field Extension:

1. If two numbers have different signs, their sum will never overflow.
2. If the numbers have the same sign, they might overflow.
3. To deal with overflow we extend the bit field length of the numbers BEFORE the calculation.

If when calculating overflow is occurring, “promote” values to larger bit field lengths. This process is
known as sign extension.

Sign Extension:

 Duplicate the value of the most significant bit to the left of the existing bit field
 The sign of the number is retained
 The value of the number does not change
 All values MUST be promoted to the same bit field length BEFORE any calculations.

Example: Evaluate (-4)dec – (7)dec

Exercise 5:

Subtract the following binary numbers using complement math. Watch out for negative results!

00110 – 01111 01000 – 01110

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 6
Exercises

1. Subtract the following binary numbers using the complement method and calculate the decimal
equivalent (watch out for negative results!)

a)
00101 − 01111 b)
01011 − 01110

2. Add the following pairs of signed binary numbers:

a)
010111 + 01011 b)
01101 + 01100

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 7
MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 8
3. Steve bought the following from the Sheridan Department Store:
Shoes for $111011bin
Jacket for $110111bin
Gloves for $1110bin
Socks for $111bin

Calculate the total bill in both binary dollars and decimal dollars.

4. Subtract to negative using the complement method: 011111–100000

MATH 18584 Lesson 03: 2’s Complement and Negative Binary Numbers 9