Name……………………………

Character Encoding
LO: To explore various character encoding methods

Success Criteria

• Describe what is a character set, how they work and give two examples

• Demonstrate how a character set runs in sequence

• Explain an understanding of ACSII including its workings, its limitations and benefits

Confidence rating
Before /5
After /5

Starter – KWL
• In the first column, write what you already know about data representation and character
encoding

• In the second column, write what you want to know about data representation and
character encoding

• After you have completed this lesson, write what you learned in the third column.

What I Know What I Want to know What I Learned

Task 1
Break the code given below

1. 65 83 67 73 73 32 105 115 32 97 32 99 111 100 101 32 102 111 114 32 114 101 112 114
101 115 101 110 116 105 110 103 32 69 110 103 108 105 115 104 32 99 104 97 114 97
99 116 101 114 115 32 97 115 32 110 117 109 98 101 114 115

2. 65 83 67 73 73 32 109 97 107 101 115 32 105 116 32 112 111 115 115 105 98 108 101 32
116 111 32 116 114 97 110 115 102 101 114 32 100 97 116 97 32 102 114 111 109 32
111 110 101 32 99 111 109 112 117 116 101 114 32 116 111 32 97 110 111 116 104 101
114 46

Extension
• Create a coded phrase yourself in ASCII and see if someone else can decode it.

Task 2
1. The decimal ASCII code of the “f” character is listed in the table below. Complete the rest of
the table listing the character represented by each decimal ASCII code in the table:

Decimal Character

100

101

102 f

103

104

105

106

Extension: What characters would be represented by the following ASCII decimal codes?

Decimal Character
Name……………………………

97

110

99

119

2. The decimal ASCII code for the “L” character has been given in the table below. Complete
the rest of the table listing the decimal code for each of the other characters listed:

Character Decimal

L 76

Extension: What would the ASCII decimal representation of the following characters be?

Character Decimal

3. The binary representation of the “S” character has been given in the table below. Complete
the rest of the table listing the binary representation of each of the other characters listed:

Character Binary

R
Name……………………………

S 01010011

W
Extension: What would the ASCII decimal representation of the following characters be?

Character Binary

Task 3
1. What is meant by the character set of a computer? [1 M]

2. Explain how ASCII is used to represent text in a computer system. [3]

3. Explain the possible limitations of using the ASCII character set for global communication. [4]

4. How many bytes are required to save the file having the following data “Welcome to
computer science lesson”