Number Systems

This appendix contains a detailed introduction to number systems and their under-
lying characteristics. The particular focus is on the binary number system, its use
B
with computers, and its similarities to other number systems. This introduction
also covers conversions between bases.
In our everyday lives, we use the decimal number system to represent values,
to count, and to perform arithmetic. The decimal system is also referred to as the
base-10 number system. We use 10 digits (0 through 9) to represent values in the
decimal system.
Computers use the binary number system to store and manage information.
The binary system, also called the base-2 number system, has only two digits (0
and 1). Each 0 and 1 is called a bit, short for binary digit. A series of bits is called
a binary string.
There is nothing particularly special about either the binary or decimal systems.
Long ago, humans adopted the decimal number system probably because we have
10 fingers on our hands. If humans had 12 fingers, we would probably be using
a base-12 number system regularly and find it as easy to deal with as we do the
decimal system now. It all depends on what you get used to. As you explore the
binary system, it will become more familiar and natural.
Binary is used for computer processing because the devices used to manage and
store information are less expensive and more reliable if they have to represent
only two possible values. Computers have been made that use the decimal system,
but they are not as convenient.
There are an infinite number of number systems, and they all follow the same
basic rules. You already know how the binary number system works, but you just
might not be aware that you do. It all goes back to the basic rules of arithmetic.

Place Value
In decimal, we represent the values of 0 through 9 using only one digit. To rep-
resent any value higher than 9, we must use more than one digit. The position of
each digit has a place value that indicates the amount it contributes to the overall
value. In decimal, we refer to the one’s column, the ten’s column, the hundred’s
column, and so on forever.

665
666 APPENDI X B Number Systems

Place value: 103 102 101 100

Decimal number: 8 4 2 7

Decimal number: 8 * 103 + 4 * 102 + 2 * 101 + 7 * 100 =

8 * 1000 + 4 * 100 + 2 * 10 + 7 * 1 = 8427

FIG URE B.1 Place values in the decimal system

Each place value is determined by the base of the number system, raised to
increasing powers as we move from right to left. In the decimal number system,
the place value of the digit furthest to the right is 100, or 1. The place value of the
next digit is 101, or 10. The place value of the third digit from the right is 102, or
100, and so on. Figure B.1 shows how each digit in a decimal number contributes
to the value.
The binary system works the same way except that we exhaust the available
digits much sooner. We can represent 0 and 1 with a single bit, but to represent
any value higher than 1, we must use multiple bits.
The place values in binary are determined by increasing powers of the base as
we move right to left, just as they are in the decimal system. However, in binary,
the base value is 2. Therefore the place value of the bit furthest to the right is 20,
or 1. The place value of the next bit is 21, or 2. The place value of the third bit
from the right is 22, or 4, and so on. Figure B.2 shows a binary number and its
place values.
The number 1101 is a valid binary number, but it is also a valid decimal num-
ber as well. Sometimes to make it clear which number system is being used, the

Place value: 23 22 21 20

Binary number: 1 1 0 1

Decimal number: 1 * 23 + 1 * 22 + 0 * 21 + 1 * 20 =
1 * 8 + 1 * 4 + 0 * 2 + 1 * 1 = 13

FIG URE B.2 Place values in the binary system

 AP P END I X B Number Systems 667

base value is appended as a subscript to the end of a number. Therefore you can
distinguish between 11012, which is equivalent to 13 in decimal, and 110110 (one
thousand, one hundred and one), which in binary is represented as 100010011012.
A number system with base N has N digits (0 through N−1). As we have seen,
the decimal system has 10 digits (0 through 9), and the binary system has two
digits (0 and 1). They all work the same way. For instance, the base-5 number
system has five digits (0 to 4).
Note that, in any number system, the place value of the digit furthest to the
right is 1, since any base raised to the zero power is 1. Also notice that the value
10, which we refer to as “ten” in the decimal system, always represents the base
value in any number system. In base 10, 10 is one 10 and zero 1’s. In base 2, 10
is one 2 and zero 1’s. In base 5, 10 is one 5 and zero 1’s.

Bases Higher Than 10

Since all number systems with base N have N digits, then base 16 has 16 digits.
But what are they? We are used to the digits 0 through 9, but in bases higher than
10, we need a single digit, a single symbol, that represents the decimal value 10.
In fact, in base 16, which is also called hexadecimal, we need digits that represent
the decimal values 10 through 15.
For number systems higher than 10, we use alphabetic characters as single digits
for values greater than 9. The hexadecimal digits are 0 through F, where 0 through 9
represent the first 10 digits, and A represents the decimal value 10, B represents 11, C
represents 12, D represents 13, E represents 14, and F represents 15.
Therefore the number 2A8E is a valid hexadecimal number. The place values
are determined as they are for decimal and binary, using increasing powers of the
base. So in hexadecimal, the place values are powers of 16. Figure B.3 shows how
the place values of the hexadecimal number 2A8E contribute to the overall value.

Place value: 163 162 161 160

Hexadecimal number: 2 A 8 E

Decimal number: 2 * 163 + 10 * 162 + 8 * 161 + 14 * 160 =

2 * 4096 + 10 * 256 + 8 * 16 + 14 * 1 = 10893

FI GURE B.3 Place values in the hexadecimal system

668 APPENDI X B Number Systems

All number systems with bases greater than 10 use letters as digits. For exam-
ple, base 12 has the digits 0 through B and base 19 has the digits 0 through I.
However, beyond having a different set of digits and a different base, the rules
governing each number system are the same.
Keep in mind that when we change number systems, we are simply changing
the way we represent values, not the values themselves. If you have 1810 pencils,
it may be written as 10010 in binary or as 12 in hexadecimal, but it is still the
same number of pencils.
Figure B.4 shows the representations of the decimal values 0 through 20 in
several bases, including base 8, which is also called octal. Note that the larger the
base, the higher the value that can be represented in a single digit.

Binary Octal Decimal Hexadecimal

(base 2) (base 8) (base 10) (base 16)

0 0 0 0

1 1 1 1

10 2 2 2

11 3 3 3

100 4 4 4

101 5 5 5

110 6 6 6

111 7 7 7

1000 10 8 8

1001 11 9 9

1010 12 10 A

1011 13 11 B

1100 14 12 C

1101 15 13 D

1110 16 14 E

1111 17 15 F

10000 20 16 10

10001 21 17 11

10010 22 18 12

10011 23 19 13

10100 24 20 14

FIG URE B.4 Counting in various number systems

 AP P END I X B Number Systems 669

Conversions
We’ve already seen how a number in another base is converted to decimal by
determining the place value of each digit and computing the result. This process
can be used to convert any number in any base to its equivalent value in base 10.
Now let’s reverse the process, converting a base-10 value to another base. First,
find the highest place value in the new number system that is less than or equal to
the original value. Then divide the original number by that place value to deter-
mine the digit that belongs in that position. The remainder is the value that must
be represented in the remaining digit positions. Continue this process, position by
position, until the entire value is represented.
For example, Figure B.5 shows the process of converting the decimal value
180 into binary. The highest place value in binary that is less than or equal to
180 is 128 (or 27), which is the eighth bit position from the right. Dividing 180
by 128 yields 1 with 52 remaining. Therefore the first bit is 1, and the decimal
value 52 must be represented in the remaining seven bits. Dividing 52 by 64,
which is the next place value (26), yields 0 with 52 remaining. So the second bit
is 0. Dividing 52 by 32 yields 1 with 20 remaining. So the third bit is 1, and the
remaining five bits must represent the value 20. Dividing 20 by 16 yields 1 with
4 remaining. Dividing 4 by 8 yields 0 with 4 remaining. Dividing 4 by 4 yields 1
with 0 remaining.
Since the number has been completely represented, the rest of the bits are zero.
Therefore 18010 is equivalent to 10110100 in binary. This can be confirmed by

Place
value Number Digit

128 180 1

64 52 0

32 52 1
18010 = 101101002
16 20 1

8 4 0

4 4 1

2 0 0

1 0 0

FI GURE B.5 Converting a decimal value into binary

670 APPENDI X B Number Systems

Place
value Number Digit

256 1967 7

16 175 A 196710 = 7AF16

1 15 F

FIG URE B.6 Converting a decimal value into hexadecimal

converting the new binary number back to decimal to make sure we get the origi-
nal value.
This process works to convert any decimal value to any target base. For each
target base, the place values and possible digits change. If you start with the cor-
rect place value, each division operation will yield a valid digit in the new base.
In the example in Figure B.5, the only digits that could have resulted from each
division operation would have been 1 or 0, since we were converting to binary.
However, when we are converting to other bases, any valid digit in the new base
could result. For example, Figure B.6 shows the process of converting the decimal
value 1967 into hexadecimal.
The place value of 256, which is 162, is the highest place value less than or
equal to the original number, since the next highest place value is 163 or 4096.
Dividing 1967 by 256 yields 7 with 175 remaining. Dividing 175 by 16 yields
10 with 15 remaining. Remember that 10 in decimal can be represented as the
single digit A in hexadecimal. The 15 remaining can be represented as the digit F.
Therefore 196710 is equivalent to 7AF in hexadecimal.

Shortcut Conversions
We have established techniques for converting any value in any base to
its equivalent representation in base 10, and from base 10 to any other base.
Therefore. you can now convert a number in any base to any other base by going
through base 10. However, an interesting relationship exists between the bases
that are powers of 2, such as binary, octal, and hexadecimal, which allows very
quick conversions between them.
To convert from binary to hexadecimal, for instance, you can simply group the
bits of the original value into groups of four, starting from the right, then convert
each group of four into a single hexadecimal digit. The example in Figure B.7
demonstrates this process.
 AP P END I X B Number Systems 671

101111110110011

101 1111 1011 0011

1011111101100112 = 5FB316
5 F B 3

5FB3

FI GU R E B.7 Shortcut conversion from binary to hexadecimal

40C6

0100 0000 1100 0110

40C616 = 1000000110001102

100000011000110

F I GU R E B.8 Shortcut conversion from hexadecimal to binary

To go from hexadecimal to binary, we reverse this process, expanding each

hexadecimal digit into four binary digits. Note that you may have to add lead-
ing zeros to the binary version of each expanded hexadecimal digit if necessary
to make four binary digits. Figure B.8 shows the conversion of the hexadecimal
value 40C6 to binary.
Why do we section the bits into groups of four when converting from binary
to hexadecimal? The shortcut conversions work between binary and any base that
is a power of 2. We section the bits into groups of that power. Since 24 = 16, we
section the bits in groups of four.
Converting from binary to octal is the same process except that the bits are
sectioned into groups of three, since 23 = 8. Likewise, when converting from octal
to binary, we expand each octal digit into three bits.
To convert between, say, hexadecimal and octal is now a process of doing two
shortcut conversions. First convert from hexadecimal to binary, then take that
result and perform a shortcut conversion from binary to octal.
By the way, these types of shortcut conversions can be performed between any
base B and any base that is a power of B. For example, conversions between base
3 and base 9 can be accomplished using the shortcut grouping technique, section-
ing or expanding digits into groups of two, since 32 = 9.