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Digital Literacy Computer Basics Computer Basics Binary

Posted by brent westley
brent westley
1,089 Points

i dont get it

i dont get it

1 Answer

Simon Coates
Simon Coates
28,694 Points
Simon Coates
Simon Coates
28,694 Points

A byte is 8 characters that can be one or zero. each character represents a power of 2, increasing from right to left, starting at 2 raised to the power zero. (ie. 1). I'm going to use a smaller data unit, called a nibble (4 bits).

0000 - 0 (8) + 0(4)+ 0(2) + 0(1) - so this represents 0

0001 - 0 (8) + 0(4)+ 0(2) + 1(1) - so this represents 1

0010- 0 (8) + 0(4)+ 1(2) + 0(1) - so this represents 2

0011 - 0 (8) +0(4)+ 1(2) + 1(1) - so this represents 3

0100- 0 (8) +1(4)+ 0(2) + 0(1) - so this represents 4

1111 - 1 (8) + 1(4)+ 1(2) + 1(1) - so this represents 15(the largest number you can represent with 4 bits)

A byte is just the same pattern with 8 characters. the first character is 2 to the power of seven (128), while the rightmost character is still 2 to the power or zero. Hence a byte lets you represent numbers in the 0-255 range.