UNIT 5: NUMBER SYSTEMS

Fundamentals of Number Systems

The term number system refers to a set of symbols or numeric values (numbers) used
to represent different quantities. In computer science, it is important to understand
number systems because the design and organisation of digital computers depends on
number systems. Historically, the ten digits ranging from 0 to 9 used to express any
number originated from India. Because the number of digits is ten, we refer to it as
base 10 or decimal number system.
In digital computers, any type of data whether numbers, alphabets, images or sound is
represented using a sequence of two digits; 0 and 1. The two digits are referred to as
binary digits (bits). Because knowledge of number systems is important, we begin this
section with basic concepts associated with binary and decimal numbers.

Bit, Byte and Nibble

In digital computers, data is represented using a sequence of bits, bytes, nibble and
word:
Bit: Bit is a short form for binary digit referring to a single digit 0 or 1 used to
represent any data in digital computers. In other words, a bit is the smallest unit used
to represent data in digital computers.
Byte: A byte is a sequence of bits used to represent alphanumeric characters
and special symbols. In most cases, computers represent any type of data using a
sequence of 8 bits.
A nibble: A sequence of four bits representing half of a byte.
Number Base Systems
Number systems are determined by the base representing valid digits used to represent
a number. The four types of number systems used in computing are decimal (base
10), binary (base 2), octal (base 8), and hexadecimal (base 16) number
systems.

Decimal Number System

Decimal number system consists of ten digits 0-9 most of us are familiar with. The
prefix deci in the word decimal is a Latin word deci that means ten. Because the
decimal number system has ten digits, it is also known as a base 10 or denary number
system. In computing, counting of decimal numbers start from 0.
Significance of Decimal Digits

Significance of a digit refers to its weight that is determined by its absolute and place
value. In a decimal number system, the most significant digit (MSD) is the leftmost,
while the least significant digit (LSD) is the rightmost digit. For a number like 7085,
Table 5.2 shows that 5 is the least significant having a place of 5 while 7 is the most
significant with place value of 7000.
 Place value 103 =1000 102 = 100 101 =10 100=1

Decimal digit 7 0 8 5

Weight 7000 0 80 5

Table 5.2. LSD and MSD in decimal numbers

Binary Number System

Binary numbers consist of two digits – 0 and 1 referred to as binary digits, in short’
bits. In binary base system, the positional value of a number increases by powers of
two. When dealing with different number systems, always remember to indicate the
base of a binary number such as 10112.
Significance of Binary Digits
The most significant digit (MSD) in a binary number is the leftmost digit, while the
least significant digit (LSD) is the rightmost digit. For example, Table 5.3 shows that
in binary number like 10112 the LSD on the right has weight of 1 that is (1 × 2 0),
while the MSD has a weight of 8.

Place value 23=8 22=4 21=2 20=1

Binary digit 1 0 1 1
decimal value 8 0 2 1
Table 5.3. LSD and MSD in binary numbers
NB: The total weight of the binary number 10112 represents 11 in decimal numbers obtained by
adding: 8+0+2+1 = 1110

Octal Number System

The octal number system also known as octa decimal has eight digits ranging from 0
– 7 that are used to represent any number. This means that a number like 785 cannot
be a valid octal number because 8 in between 7 and 5 is not within 0 to 7 digits.
Significance of Octal Digits
In octal number system, the MSD is the leftmost digit, while LSD is on the right. For
example, Table 5.4 illustrates an octal number 7245 8 with 7 being the most
significant digit with decimal weight of 358410.
 Place values 83 =512 82 =64 81=8 80=1
Octal digit 7 2 4 5
Base 10 value 3584 128 32 5
Table 5.4: LSD and MSD in octal numbers

To get the decimal number equivalent to 7245 we add: 3584 + 128 + 32 + 5 = 3749
Thus; 72458 = 374910.
Hexadecimal Number System
Hexadecimal is a base 16 number system consisting of 16 digits that range from 0 to
9, and A to F. The letters A to F are used to represent numbers 10 to 15 as shown in
Table 5.5. Always remember to indicate the base of a hexadecimal number using the
subscript 16 e.g. 4F916.
Base 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Base 16 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
Table 5.5. Hexadecimal digits

Significance of Hexadecimal Digits

In hexadecimal number system, significance of digits increases from right to left in
multiples of 16. For example, Table 5.6 shows in 946 16, 6 is the LSD while 9 is the
MSD with decimal place value of 230410.
The decimal equivalent of 94616 is obtained by adding:
2304 + 64 + 6 =2374
Thus 94616 = 237410.
Place value 162 = 256 161 = 16 160=1
Hexadecimal 9 4 6
digit
Base 10 value 2304 64 6
Table 5.6: Significance of hexadecimal numbers
Table 5.7 below shows a summary of the four number systems classified according
to their base values:
System Base Valid digits Example
Binary 2 01 10012
Octal 8 01234567 56408
Decimal 10 0123456789 564010
Hexadecimal 16 0123456789 ABCDEF 56AF16
Table 5.7: Summary of number systems

Converting Decimal to other Base Systems

Mathematically, it is possible to convert a number from one base system to another.
In the following section, we demonstrate how to convert decimal numbers to other
base systems.
Decimal to Binary Number Conversion
To convert a decimal number to binary, there are two possible methods, the division-
remainder, and positional-value methods.

1 Division-by-Base Method
In division-by-base method, a decimal number is repeatedly divided by the base until
the dividend is indivisible by 2. In every division, write down the remainder on the
right of the dividend. Read the sequence of 0s and 1s bottom-ups that represents the
binary number. For example, to convert 4510 to binary form, proceed as follow:
2 45
22 R1
11 R0
5 R 1 Thus: 4510=1011012
2R1
1R0
0 R1×

Explanation
Divide 45 by 2. We get 22 remainder 1.
Next divide 22 by 2. We get 11 remainder 0.
Continue dividing until the number is indivisible by 2. In this case, 1 is not
divisible hence we write 0 remainder 1.
Read the remainder digits as 0s and 1s bottom up.

2 Place value Method

The second method of converting decimal numbers to binary form is the place value
method. For example, to convert 24710 to binary form, proceed as follows:
Start by writing down the place values in powers of 2 up to the value equal to or
slightly larger than the number to be converted. For example, to convert 247 10,
write down the place values up to 28, i.e., 256 as shown in Table 5.8.
Place value in 28 27 26 25 24 23 21 20
powers of 2
Place value in 256 128 64 32 16 8 2 1
decimal
Table 5.8: Place-value method: Step 1
Subtract the highest place value i.e. 256 from the number as shown in table 5.9. If
the difference is 0 or positive, write 1, otherwise write 0 if the difference is
negative.
Place value 28 27 26 20
Difference 247 – 256 247 – 128
 Binary digit 0
Table 5.9: Place-value method: Step 2
NB: Note that under the place value 28, we write 0 because 247-256 returns a
negative value.
If the difference returned a negative carry forward the number, the next lower
significant place value and calculate the difference. Since 247 – 128 returns 119
(positive), write 1 as shown in Fig. 5.10.

Place value 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

Difference 247 – 256 247 – 128 119 – 64
Bit 0 1 1
Table 5.10: Place-value method: Step 3
Repeat the process until you encounter the least significant, until you subtract the
previous step difference from the least significant place value as shown in Table 5.11:
256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
247 – 119 –
256 247 – 128 64 55–32 23–16 7 – 8 7 – 4 3 – 2 1–1=0
0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
Table 5.11: Place-value method: Step 4

Read the binary digits from left to right. This gives us 011110111.
Thus: 24710 = 0111101112.
Table 5.11 demonstrates how to use place value method to convert 107 10 to binary
form. First, write the place values up to 128, and then calculate the difference from left
to right. If the difference is > =0, insert 1 otherwise insert 0 as shown in Table 5.11.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
107–128 (107–64) (43–32) (11–16) (11–8) (3–4) (3–2) (1–1)
0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1
Table 5.11: Place value method
Thus: 10710=11010112

Decimal to Octal Conversion

To convert a decimal number to octal form, we repeatedly divide the dividend by the
base value 8 until the quotient is indivisible by 8. The remainders consisting of digits
between 0 and 7 are read upwards. For example, to convert 586 10 to an octal number,
proceed as follows:

8 586 (586 ÷ 8 = 73 rem 2 )

8 73R 2
( 73 ÷ 8 = 9 rem 1 )
8 9R1 Thus: 58610 = 11128
=1
8 1R1 ( 9 ÷ 8 rem 1 )
= 0
8 0R1 ( 1 ÷ 8 rem 1 )
Decimal to Hexadecimal Conversion
To convert a decimal number to hexadecimal form, repeatedly divide the quotient
by16 until the quotient is not divisible by the base value. The resulting remainders
consisting of digits from 0-9, and A-F are read bottom-up. For example, to convert a
decimal number 896 to hexadecimal form, proceed as follows:
Continue dividing until the quotient is no longer divisible by 16.
Read the remainders from bottom to top.
Thus: 89610 = 38010
16 896 (89 ÷ 16 = 56
16 56R0 6 rem 0)
56 ÷ 16 = 3
16 3R8 ( rem 8 ) Thus: 89610 = 38016
÷ 16 = 0
0R3 ( 3 rem 3)

Explanation
Divide the number by 16 and write down the quotient and the remainder. Note the
remainder can be a digit between 0 and F.

Taking another example let us convert a decimal 4056 to hexadecimal form.

16 4056
16 253 R 8
D
15R 13
F
0R15
Since hexadecimal symbols between 10 and 15 are represented by letters A to F,
replace 15 with F and 13 with D in the remainders.
Thus: 405610 = FD816

Binary to other Base System Conversion

Conversion of a binary number to other base systems is the reverse procedure to
what we have covered in the previous section. In this section, we demonstrate how to
convert binary numbers into decimal (base 10), octal (base 8) and hexadecimal (base
16) form.
Binary to Decimal Conversion
To convert a binary number to decimal form, proceed as follows:
Write place values under which you place the bits from the least significant to the
most significant as shown in Table 5.12. For example, Table 5.12 shows a binary
number with digits placed under corresponding place values.
Multiply each bit by corresponding place value e.g starting with most significant
e.g in case of 101101, multiply the left most bit by 32.
 Sum the partial products to get the decimal number. In our case we add (1 × 28)
+(0×24)+(0×23)+(1×22)+(1×21)+(1×20)

This gives us:

32+0+8+4+0+1=45
Therefore, 1011012 = 4510

Place value 25 24 23 22 21 20
Binary digits 1 0 1 1 0 1
Table 5.12: Binary to decimal conversion

Binary to Octal Conversion

To convert a binary to Octal system, group the One’s (1’s) and zero’s(0’s) into sets
of three bits starting from right to left. The reason for grouping into 3 bits is because
the maximum octal digit (7) has a maximum of 3 digits as shown in Table 5.13.

Bits 000 001 010 011 100 101 110 111

Octal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Table 5.13: Binary representation of Octal digit
For example, to convert 110100012 to octal format, proceed as follows
Group the bits to sets of 3 starting from right.
Write down the octal digit represented by each set of bits as shown in Table 5.14:
Binary digits 011 010 001
Octal digits 3 2 1
Table 5.14: Binary to Octal conversion
Thus: = 0110100012 ≡ 3218
Binary to Hexadecimal Conversion
Similar to the approach used with octal number system, a binary number can be
converted to hexadenal format by grouping the bits to a set of 4 bits. This is because
the largest hexadecimal digit i.e. F(15) has 4 bits as shown in Table 5.15:
Hexadecimal digit Decimal 4-bits
00 00 0000
01 01 0001
02 02 0010
03 03 0011
04 04 0100
05 05 0101
06 06 0110
07 07 0111
08 08 1000
09 09 1001
 A 10 1010

B 11 1011

C 12 1100

D 13 1101

E 14 1110

F 15 1111

For example, to convert 110100012 to hexadecimal form, group the bits into sets of 4
starting from right to left as follows: as shown in Table 5.16:
Binary 1101 0001
Hexadecimal D 1
Table 5.16: Binary to hexadecimal conversion

Thus: = 1101 00012 = D1

If a binary number does not have an exact set of 4 bits after grouping such as
1100100001, proceed as follows:
Split the number into sets of 4 bits starting from right to left. In our case, we get
three complete sets and one incomplete one:
11 0010 0001
Because the leftmost set has two bits, add two zeros to it on the left to get:
0011 0010 0001
Using the binary equivalents in Table 5.17, place each the equivalent
hexadecimal digit under each of the set of bits.
Binary digits 0011 0010 0001
Hexadecimal 3 2 1
Table 5.17: Grouping bits to represent a hexadecimal digit

Thus: 00110100012 = 32116

Octal to Decimal Conversion

To convert octal numbers to decimal form, we use the division-by-base and place
value methods used on binary numbers. For example, to convert 512 8 to decimal
form, proceed as follows:
1. Write each number under base 8 place value as shown in Table 5.18:
Place value 82 81 80
Octal digit 5 1 2
Table 5.18: Converting octal to decimal form

From left to right, multiply each digit by its place value as shown below:
64 × 5 =320
8×1=
1×2=+2
330
Thus: 5128= 33010

Octal to Hexadecimal conversion

Because octal to hexadecimal conversions cannot be done directly, we first convert
given octal numbers to its decimal or binary equivalent. In the second step we
convert the decimal or binary number to its hexadecimal equivalent.
To start with, we demonstrate how to use the two-stage approach to convert an
octal number 10028 to hexadecimal:
10028= (1 × 83) + (0 × 82) + (0 × 81) + (2 × 80)
1×512+0×64+0×8+2×1
512+0+0+2
Convert the decimal number 514 to hexadecimal using division-by-base method.:

16 514
16 32 R 2
2R0
0R2

Thus, 10028 = 20216

Alternatively, you can convert an octal number to hexadecimal by converting the
number to binary form as follows:
1. Convert each octal digit to a 3-bit binary number as shown in Table 5.19 below:
Octal digits 1 0 0 2
Binary digits 001 000 000 010
Table 5.19: Converting octal to binary
Convert the resulting binary number i.e. 0010000000102 to hexadecimal by
grouping the bits into four groups starting from right:
Write down the hexadecimal equivalent of each of the 4-bit grouping as shown
below:
Binary nibble 0010 0000 0010
Hexadecimal digits 2 0 2
Table 5.20:Converting binary grouping to hexadecimal

Therefore, 0010 0000 001002 = 20216

Hexadecimal to Decimal Conversion

To convert a hexadecimal number to base ten equivalents, proceed as follows:
First, write the place values starting from the right-hand side.
 If a digit is a letter such as an ‘A’ write its decimal equivalent.
Multiply each hexadecimal digit with its corresponding place value, and then add
the partial products.
The following example illustrate how to convert 11116 to decimal form:
1. Write each digit under its place value as shown in Table 5.21.
Hexadecimal place 162 = 256 161 = 16 160=1
values
Hexadecimal digits 1 1 1
Table 5.21: Converting hexadecimal to decimal
Multiply each hexadecimal digit with corresponding places value and write down
the partial products (256 × 1) + (16 × 1) + (1 × 1) downwards as follows:
Number Systems
256×1= 256
16×1=
1×1=

3. Add the partial products: 256 + 16 + 1 = 273

Thus: 11116 = 27310
Taking another example, let us convert A916 to decimal form:

Place value 161 = 16 160= 1

Demand digit 10 9

Table 5.22: Converting hexadecimal to decimal

(i) Write each hexadecimal digit under its place value.

(ii) Add the partial products (16 × 10) + (1 × 9)
This gives us 160 + 9 = 1690
Thus: A916 = 16910

Decimal Fraction to Binary Conversion

In mathematics, a number with integer and fractional parts such as 87.25 is known
as a real number. In computing, a real number is referred to as floating point
number. The fractional part has a value that is less than 1 written as 1/x or 0.x. For
example, 87.25 has a fractional part 0.25 that may also be written as 1/4. The weight
of a floating-point number increases from right to left as shown in Table 5.23:
Place value 101 100 • 10–1 10–2 10–3
Decimal digit 8 7 • 5 3 7
 Decimal value 80 7 • 0.5 0.03 0.007
Table 5.23: Decimal fraction
In computing, the same approach is used to represent fractional binary numbers. For
example, the fractional binary number 11.110112 may be represented as shown in
Table 5.24.

Place value 21 20 • 2–1 2–2 2–3 2–4 2–5

Binary digit 1 1 • 1 1 0 1 1
Decimal value 2 1 • 0.5 0.25 0 0.0625 0.03125

For example, to convert a number like 87.25 to binary form, first convert the integer
part using one of the methods discussed earlier. Then, convert the fractional part as
follows:
Start by multiplying the fractional part by 2 and write the partial product. For
example, 0.25 × 2 = 0.5.
Take the fractional part of the previous partial product and multiply it by 2. In our
case: 0.50 × 2 = 1.000.
Repeat until the fractional part on the right of decimal point of the partial product
is 0 or starts recurring. For example, in step 2 above, the fractional part is 000
hence we stop.
Read downwards the 0s and 1s on the left of the decimal point of partial products
as shown below:
read this digits

0.25 × 2 = 0.50
87.25 = 1010111.01
0.50 × 2 = 1.00

To convert a floating point decimal number 7.375, proceed as follows:

Convert the integer part 7 using the division-by 2 or place value method. The
operation should return 111.
Convert the fractional part until the part on the right of decimal point is 0 or starts
recurring:
read downwards

0.375 × 2 = 0.750
0.750 × 2 = 1.500
0.500 × 2 = 1.000 (stop because the part on the right is zero)

Read the digits on the left of decimal point downwards as shown by the arrow. In
this case, the digits are 0.011.
Combine the integer and fractional parts to get: 111+0.011= 111.0112
Thus: 7.37510 = 111.0112
In this example, we demonstrate how to convert a decimal number 0.40 that returns a
recurring binary fraction. We proceed as follows:

read downwards

0.40 × 2 = 0.80
0.80 × 2 = 1.60
0.60 × 2 = 1.20
1.20 × 2 = 0.40
0.40 × 2 = 0.80 (stop because the fraction starts repeating the first step)
Thus: 0.4010 = 0.01102

Binary Fraction to Decimal Conversion

To convert a floating-point binary number like 11.0112 to decimal form, proceed as
follows:
Convert the bits on the left of the decimal point into decimal form and sum-up the
partial products as follows:
2×1= 2.000 Multiply each integer
part by its place value
1×1= 1.000
3.00010 Add the two numbers

Next, convert the bits on the right of the decimal point to decimal form using
corresponding place values from left to right as shown below:
0.50 × 0= 0.000
0.25 × 1= 0.250
0.125 × 1= 0.125
0.375

Finally, add the two decimal parts: 3.00010 + 0.37510 = 3.37510

Thus: 11.0112 = 3.37510
Negative Decimal to Binary Conversion
Conversion of negative decimal numbers to binary form is simplified by use of one’s
complement and two’s complement. One’s complement is a value obtained by inverting
each bit in a binary number while two’s complement is value obtained by adding 1 bit to
one’s complement. In this section, we show how to use one’s complement and two’s
complement to convert a negative decimal number to binary form.

Ones complement
One’s complement is a temporary step to finding twos complement of a binary
number. To convert a binary number to ones, complement, we invert 0 bits to 1s and
vice versa. For example, the one’s complement of 1001110 2 may be expressed as a
unary operation as follows:
~(1001110) = 0110001; where ~ stands for negation.

Two’s complement
Two’s complement is another method used to represent negative numbers in binary
form. Two’s complement of a number is obtained by getting the one’s complement
then adding 1 bit.
For example, to find the two’s complement of the binary number 1001110 2, proceed
as follows:
Convert 1001110 to one’s complement using unary operator (~) :
~(1001110) = 0110001;
Add 1 bit to one’s complement to get the two’s complement:
0110001 + 1 = 0110010
Thus: Two’s complement of 1001110 = 0110010.
Taking another example, let us convert the decimal number 45 to binary form and
express its negative value using twos complement.
The problem requires that you pad (insert) 0 bits to the left of the most significant bit
until the number has 8 bit. To get the 2s complement, proceed as follows:
4510 to 8-bit binary form i.e 001011012.
Convert the binary number to one’s complement as follows:
~(00101101) = 11010010.
Add 1 to one’s compliment number as follows:
11010010 + 1 = 11010011.

Arithmetic Operations on Binary Numbers

Basic arithmetic operators such as addition (+), subtraction (–), multiplication (×),
division (/) can be used to manipulate binary numbers. In computers, these
operations are performed inside the central processing unit by arithmetic and logic
unit (ALU). Because, ALU only performs binary addition, subtraction operation is
carried out using one’s or two’s complements. To perform multiplication and
division, the ALU shifts the bits to the left or right before adding the operands.

Binary addition
The four rules applied in binary additions are:

0+0=0
0+1=1
1+0=1
1 + 1 = 0 (write 0, and carry 1 to the next significant bit).

For example, to calculate binary addition 111 + 011, proceed as follows:

Arrange the bits vertically, and then add them from right to left like in decimal
numbers as shown below:

111
011

Start the add operation with the least significant digits on the right.
12 + 12 = 102 (write 0, and then carry 1)
Add the carry over digit from the previous step to the second least significant bit
to get:
12 + 12 + 12 = 112 (write 1, and then carry 1)
Finally, add the most significant bits, plus the carry-over from the previous step
to get:
12 + 0 + 12 = 102, (write 10 because to this is the leftmost)
Thus: 1112 + 0112 = 10102

Binary subtraction
The four rules applied in binary subtraction are:
0–0=0
1–0=1
1–1=0
0 – 1 = 1 (borrow 1 from the next more significant bit)

The following example illustrate binary subtraction using direct method:

1101
– 1010

Starting from right to left, work out binary subtraction as follows:

Step 1 1 – 0 = 1,
Step 2 10 – 1 =1 (borrow 1 from the next significant digit)
Step 3 0 – 0 = 0,
Step 4 1 – 1 = 0,
Thus:1101– 1010 = 11

Subtraction using one’s complements

Because a computer does not perform direct subtraction, one’s complement is an
alternative method used to find the difference of numbers. For example, to compute
5-3 using the ones complement, proceed as follows:
Rewrite the problem as 5 + (–3) to show that a computer performs subtraction by
adding 5 to ones complement of the decimal 3.
Convert the decimal number 3 to its 8-bit number, i.e., 000000112.
Convert 000000112 to ones complement, i.e., 111111002.
Convert the first operand i.e 5 from decimal to binary form. This gives us
00000101 in 8-bits.
Add the two binary numbers as shown below.
00000101 The 9th bit is an overflow
11111100 hence should be ignored.
(1)00000001
 NB: We observe that the difference between the two numbers has nine bits instead of the original
8. This extra bit is known as the overflow bit.

Therefore, the result shows that the difference between 5 and 3 is 00000001; but this is not true
because the answer should be 00000010.
To get the correct answer, add the overflow bit back to the difference. Thus, the correct
difference is:
00000001 + 1 = 00000010.

Subtraction using twos complements

Like in one’s complement, the two’s complement of a number is obtained by negating a positive
number to negative number. For example to get the difference 5 – 3, using the two’s complement,
proceed as follows:
Rewrite the expression as addition of 5 + (–3).
Convert the absolute value of 3 into 8-bit binary equivalent i.e., 00000011.
Take the one’s complement of 00000011, that is 11111100.
Add 1 to the one’s complement i.e., 11111100+1 to get 11111101.
Convert 5 to binary and add it to two’s complement of 3 as follows: 00000101
11111101
(1) 00000010
overflow bit
NB: After adding the two numbers, the sum becomes a nine-bit number. But because a computer
can handle only 8 bits, the extra bit on the extreme left (most) significant digit is referred to as
overflow bit.

The bit in brackets is an overflow hence it should be ignored. Therefore, the correct difference is
00000010.

Binary Multiplication
The pen-and-paper method of binary multiplication is quite similar to that used in decimal numbers
only that the multipliers are 0s and 1s. In binary multiplications, the four rules applied from right to
left are:
0x0=0
1x0=0
1x0=0
1x1=1 (no carry over or borrowing)
For example, to perform binary multiplication 1011 x 101, proceed as follows:
1011
×101 Add the partial products we get 1101112

1011
0000
+1011
110111

Explanation
Multiply the first multiplication with each digit of the second multiplication.
Shift the partial products to the left.
Add the partial products as follows: 1011 + 0000 +
1011 = 1101112

Binary Division
Binary division is a shift and subtract operation. In each step, the dividend is grouped into bits which
are divisible by the divisor, and then subtracted. For example, to perform division of 10101 2 ÷ 112
proceed as follows: