Binary numeral system

From Citizendium
Revision as of 10:21, 5 March 2007 by imported>Kevin J. Cole (Just reworking the wording.)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The binary numbering system (also referred to as base-2, or radix-2), represents numbers using only the digits 0 and 1. This is in contrast with the more familiar decimal system (a.k.a. base-10, radix-10) which uses the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. In the decimal system, each digit position represents a power of ten. The number represents the value consisting of one set of tens (), and no sets of ones (). In binary numbering, system each digit position represents a power of two. The same number, represents the value consisting of one set of twos () and no sets of ones () which is represented by the number 2 in the decimal system.

Decimal
Binary

Because the number of digits in the binary representation of a value can grow quickly, binary values are often represented in the hexadecimal numbering system (base-16), which uses the digits 0 through 9, followed by the letters A through F to represent the values ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen.

Decimal Binary Hexadecimal
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 10 2
3 11 3
4 100 4
5 101 5
6 110 6
7 111 7
8 1000 8
9 1001 9
10 1010 A
11 1011 B
12 1100 C
13 1101 D
14 1110 E
15 1111 F
16 10000 10