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Hexadecimal System

The hexadecimal system is used in computing for convenience, as one hex digit represents four binary digits, making it easier for humans to work with complex binary numbers. Key applications of hexadecimal include error codes, MAC addresses, IPv6 addresses, and HTML color codes. Each of these uses highlights the efficiency and clarity that hexadecimal provides in identifying devices and data in digital systems.

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shola shodeinde
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10 views

Hexadecimal System

The hexadecimal system is used in computing for convenience, as one hex digit represents four binary digits, making it easier for humans to work with complex binary numbers. Key applications of hexadecimal include error codes, MAC addresses, IPv6 addresses, and HTML color codes. Each of these uses highlights the efficiency and clarity that hexadecimal provides in identifying devices and data in digital systems.

Uploaded by

shola shodeinde
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Use of the hexadecimal system

As already known, computers can only work with binary data. Whilst computer
scientists can work with binary, they find hexadecimal to be more convenient to
use. This is because one hex digit represents four binary digits. A complex binary
number, such as 1101001010101111 can be written in hex as D2AF. The hex
number is far easier for humans to remember, copy and work with. This section
reviews four uses of the hexadecimal system:
 error codes
 MAC addresses
 IPv6 addresses
 HTML colour codes
The information in this section gives the reader sufficient grounding in each topic at
this level.
Error codes
These numbers refer to the memory location of the error and are usually
automatically generated by the computer.
Media Access Control (MAC) addresses
Media Access Control (MAC) address refers to a number which uniquely
identifies a device on a network. The MAC address refers to the network interface
card (NIC) which is part of the device.
MAC address is usually made up of 48 bits which are shown as 6 groups of two
hexadecimal digits (although 64-bit addresses also exist):
NN – NN – NN – DD – DD – DD or NN:NN:NN:DD:DD:DD
where the first half (NN – NN – NN) is the identity number of the manufacturer of the
device and the second half (DD – DD – DD) is the serial number of the device.
For example:
00 – 1C – B3 – 4F – 25 – FE is the MAC address of a device produced by the Apple
Corporation (code: 001CB3) with a serial number of: 4F25FE. Very often lowercase
hexadecimal letters are used in the MAC address: 00-1c-b3-4f-25-fe.
Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
Each device connected to a network is given an address known as the Internet
Protocol (IP) address. An IPv4 address is a 32-bit number written in denary or
hexadecimal form: e.g. 109.108.158.1 (or 77.76.9e.01 in hex). IPv4 has recently
been improved upon by the adoption of IPv6. An IPv6 address is a 128-bit number
broken down into 16-bit chunks, represented by a hexadecimal number.
For example:

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