Lab - Use a Calculator for Binary Conversions

Objectives
 SwitchamongWindowsCalculatormodes.
 UseWindowsCalculatortoconvertbetweendecimal and binary.
 UseWindowsCalculatortodeterminethenumberofhostsinanetworkwithpowersof2.

Background / Scenario
When working with networking devices, a networktechnician should understand binary anddecimalnumbers.
Inthislab,youwillusetheWindowsCalculatorapplicationtoconvertbetween these numbering
systems.Youwillalsousethe “powers”functiontodeterminethenumberofhosts
thatcanbeaddressedbasedonthenumberofbitsavailable.

Required Resources
 PC (Windows 10)

Instructions

Part 1: Using Windows Calculator

Step 1: Access Windows Calculator and determine mode of operation.

a. Open the Windows Calculator application. ClickStart, type Calculator. SelectCalculator in the results.
Question:

What mode is the Calculator in?

- Standard
Type your answers here.
b. Click the Open Navigation icon (≡) located in the upper left-hand corner. The Windows calculator
supports different mode of calculations.
Question:

List the five modes for the calculator.

Graphing
Programmer
Date Calculation
Standard
Scientific
Type your answers here.

Step 2: Switch between modes.

a. To switch between calculator modes, click the Open Navigation icon (≡) and select desired mode.
b. Practice switching between calculator modes to see which options they provide.
Question:

Briefly explain the function of each mode.

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Lab - Use a Calculator for Binary Conversions

Graphing – performs the usual calculator and graph screen functions, while the performs complex
equations.
Programmer – calculator designed to solve problems in science, engineering and mathematics
Date Calculation – Specifies the difference between two data dates, paying the result for a few days,
months or years, as indicated in the third argument
Standard - perform arithmetic operations on numbers
Scientific – calculator designed to solver problem in science, engineering and mathematics

Type your answers here.

Part 2: Binary System

Step 1: Convertbetweennumbersystems.
a. SelecttheProgrammermode calculator.
b. The Programmer calculator supports four numberingsystems —
HEX(Hexadecimal),DEC(Decimal),OCT(Octal),andBIN(Binary).
Questions:

Whichnumbersystemiscurrentlyactive?
- DEC
Type your answers here.
WhichnumbersonthenumberpadareactiveinDecimalmode?
- The numbers active for Decimal Mode (DEC) is numbers 0-9
Type your answers here.
c. ClickBIN.
Question:

Whichnumbersonthenumberpadarenowactive?
- 0 and 1
Type your answers here.
Whydoyouthinktheothernumbersaregrayedout?
Type your answers here.
d. ClickDEC.Usingyourmouse,clickonthenumber1followedbythenumber5onthenumberpad.Thedecimalnumb
er15hasnowbeenentered.
- 11011100
e. Now clickBIN.
Question:

Whathappenedtothenumber15listedinthetextboxatthetopofthewindow?
- 204
Type your answers here.
f. Enter thenumber220and select BIN.
Question:

Whatisthebinaryequivalentof220?
Type your answers here.
g. Clearthebinaryvaluerepresenting220inthewindow.FromBinarymode,typeinthefollowingbinarynumber:1100
1100.SelecttheDEC.
Question:

Whatisthedecimalequivalenttothebinarynumberof11001100?

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Lab - Use a Calculator for Binary Conversions

Type your answers here.

Step 2: Practice the conversion between binary and decimal numbering system.
Questions:

Convertthefollowingdecimalnumberstobinary.

Decimal Binary

86 01010110
175 10101111
204 Blank00010011
19 Blank00010011

Convertthefollowingbinarynumberstodecimal.

Binary Decimal

1100 0011 195

0010 1010 Blank42
0011 1000 Blank56
1001 0011 Blan147

Part 3: Network Addresses

Step 1: Converthost IP addresses.

a. Computerhostsusuallyhavetwoaddresses,anInternetProtocol (IP) addressand an Ethernet Media
AccessControl(MAC)address.Forthebenefitofhumans, the IP addressisnormally represented as
adotteddecimal notation, such as 192.168.10.2. Each of the decimal octets in theaddressora mask
canbeconvertedto8binarybits.Remember that thecomputeronlyunderstandsbinarybits.
Question:

Ifall4octetswereconvertedtobinary,howmanybitswouldtherebe?
Type your answers here.
a. IPaddressesarenormallyshownwithfourdecimalnumbersrangingfrom0to255andseparatedbyaperiod.
Question:

Convertthe4partsoftheIPaddress192.168.10.2tobinary.

Decimal Binary

192 Blan192
168 Blan168
10 Blan10
2 Blank2

Step 2: Converthost IP subnet masks.

Subnetmasks,suchas255.255.255.0,arealsorepresentedasdotteddecimal.Asubnetmaskwillalwaysconsistoffour
8-
bitoctets,eachonerepresentedasadecimalnumber.Withtheexceptionofdecimal0(all8binaryzeros)anddecimal255
(all8binaryones),eachoctetwillhavesomenumberofonesontheleftandsomenumberof zerosontheright.

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Lab - Use a Calculator for Binary Conversions

Questions:

Convertthe8possibledecimalsubnetoctetvaluestobinary.

Decimal Binary

0 blank 00000000
128 blank 10000000
192 11000000
224 11100000
240 blank 11110000
248 blank 11111000
252 blank 11111100
254 blank 11111110
255 blank 11111111

Convertthefourpartsofthesubnetmask255.255.255.0tobinary.

Decimal Binary

255 blank 11111111

255 blank 11111111
255 blank 11111111
0 blank 00000000

Step 3: Manipulatepowers of 2 to determinethe number of hostson anetwork

a. Binarynumbersuse two digits,0and 1. When you calculatehowmanyhostscanbeonasubnetwork, you
usepowersof two becausebinary is beingused. As anexample,wehaveasubnet mask that leavessixbits in
thehostportionof the IPaddress.In this case,thenumberofhostson that network
is2tothe6thpowerminus2(becauseyouneedanumbertorepresentthenetworkandanumberthatcanbeusedtorea
challthehosts—
thebroadcastaddress).Thenumber2isalwaysusedbecauseweareworkinginbinary.Thenumber6isthenumber
ofbitsthatareusedforthehostbits.
b. Changethe calculator viewtoScientific
mode.Inputthenumber2.Selectthexykeyonthecalculator,thekeywhichraisesanumbertoapower.Inputthenum
ber6. To compete the operation, clickonthe=key,pressEnteronthekeyboard,orpressthe
=keyonthekeyboard.Thenumber64appearsintheoutput.Tosubtracttwo,clickontheminus(-)keyandthenthe2k
eyfollowedbythe=key.Thenumber62appearsintheoutput. Thismeans62hostscouldbeutilized.
Questions:

Usingthepreviouslydescribedprocess,determinethenumberofhostsifthefollowingnumberofbitsareusedforho
stbits.

No. of Bits Used for Hosts No. of Hosts

5 blank 30
14 blank 16, 382
24 16,777,214
10 blank 1,022

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Lab - Use a Calculator for Binary Conversions

Usingasimilartechniqueaslearnedpreviously,determinewhat10tothe4thpowerequals.
10,000
Type your answers here.
c. ClosetheWindowsCalculatorapplication.

Reflection
ListoneotherthingforwhichyoumightusetheWindowsCalculatorscientificmode.Itdoes not have
toberelatedtonetworking:
- Now that we have a Probability and Statistics class this semester, I will be able to properly use and
utilize the use of a scientific calculator, since we will be dealing with statistical data and other things
that will necessitate the use of a scientific calculator.
Type your answers here.

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