Contents

Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 2

Units ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 3
Numbers .................................................................................................................................... 3
Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 4
Numbers .................................................................................................................................... 4
Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 5
Numbers .................................................................................................................................... 5
Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 6
Numbers .................................................................................................................................... 6
Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 7
Images ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Representation of Data .......................................................................................................... 8
Characters ................................................................................................................................ 8
 Representation of Data
Units
I can define the terms bit, nibble, byte, kilobyte, megabyte,
gigabyte, terabyte
I understand that data needs to be converted into a binary
format to be processed by a computer.

Specification Revised

Binary is a number system that uses just two symbols, 0 and 1.

 Computers do not understand anything other than machine
code. So data and instructions need to be converted and
stored in binary

 A single zero or one is a Bit

– 1 or 0
 4 zeros’s and/or ones is a nibble
– 1010
 8 zero’s and/or ones is a Byte
– 10101010

Common description of bits/bytes No of bits/bytes

a 1 or a 0 (b) 1 bit
1 nibble 4 bits
1 byte (B) 8 bits
1 Kilobyte (KB) 1024 bytes (1024 x 8 bits)
1 Megabyte (MB) 1024 Kilobytes
1 Gigabyte (GB) 1024 Megabytes
1 Terabyte (TB) 1024 Gigabytes
 Representation of Data
Numbers
I can convert positive denary whole numbers (0-255) into 8-bit
binary numbers and vice versa.
Specification Revised

 The binary number system uses multiple of two instead of ten (our base 10
number system) for column headings.
 The denary number system is our method of counting
 When converting 8 - bit binary to denary and vice-versa draw a table like the
one below with the headings.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

Converting Binary to Denary

We place the binary number in the table and then add up the column values where
there is a 1. E.g. convert the number 01010101 to denary:
1 = 64 + 16 + 4 + 1
128 64 32 16 8 4 2
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 Answer = 85

Converting Denary to Binary

Start on the left side of the table (largest number) and move along checking if the
number is divisible by the column heading. If it is you place a 1 else you place a 0.
E.g. convert 56 to binary
 Is the number divisible by 128? The answer is no so we put a 0.
 Is the number divisible by 64? The answer is no so we put a 0.
 Is the number divisible by 32? The answer is yes so we put a 1 and note the
remainder which is 24.
 Is 24 (the remainder) divisible by 16? The answer is yes so we put a 1 and note the
remainder which is 8.
 Is 8 (the remainder) divisible by 8? The answer is yes so we put a 1 and note the
remainder which is 0.
 Is 0 divisible by 4? The answer is no so we put a 0 and note the remainder which is 0.
 We do the same thing for 2 and 1 and place a 0 in the column
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 So therefore 56 in
0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 binary is:
00111000

Appendix 1 contains alternative methods of conversion that you may prefer

 Representation of Data
Numbers
I can add two 8-bit binary integers and explain overflow errors
which may occur.

Specification Revised

Adding Binary

 Adding binary numbers uses the same method as base 10 (denary numbers). We add
the values and the value is larger than that column we carry a number to the next
column.
 There are four rules for adding binary:
1 0 + 0 = 0 so we write 0
2 0 + 1 = 1 so we write 1
3 1 + 1 = 10 so we write 0 and carry 1
4 1 + 1 + 1 = 11 so we write 1 and carry 1
 Here is an example:
Binary
0 1 0 0
0 1 0 1
+ 1 0 0 1
Carried values 1
You can always check your answers by converting them to denary and checking them

 As we are using 8 bits there is a limit on the largest number that can be stored. Overflow
errors can occur.
 Overflow occurs when we are adding 1 + 1 in the last column. The Carried 1 has
nowhere to go and is lost. This causes the wrong answer

Binary
1 1 0 0 10 1 0
+ 1 0 1 1 00 1 0
1 1 1 1 1 11 0 0
1 1
We need a 9 bit otherwise the last bit is lost.
th

When adding binary numbers do not convert them

into denary first, but you can check them at the end
 Representation of Data
Numbers
 I can convert positive denary whole numbers (0-255) into
2-digit hexadecimal numbers and vice versa
 I can convert between binary and hexadecimal
equivalents of the same number
 I can explain the use of hexadecimal numbers to
represent binary numbers

Specification Revised

Hexadecimal Numbers
 Large binary numbers are difficult for programmers to remember and they
want something that is easy to convert from binary.
 Each hex digit represents four binary digits exactly.
 This makes it a quicker way for programmers to write numbers.

 Hexadecimal numbers are based on base 16.

 They have 16 different digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F
 We use the letters A to F to represent the decimal numbers 10-15

Converting Binary to Hexadecimal

 An 8 bit binary number is split into 2

nibbles.
 Each nibble can store numbers from
0 -15.
Example:
10011011
Becomes
8 4 2 1 8 4 2 1
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1

This nibble is 9 This nibble is 11

which becomes

So 10011011 becomes 9B

In the exam write down the decimal and

hexadecimal numbers to help you with your
conversion
 Representation of Data
Numbers
 I can convert positive denary whole numbers (0-255) into
2-digit hexadecimal numbers and vice versa
 I can convert between binary and hexadecimal
equivalents of the same number
 I can explain the use of hexadecimal numbers to
represent binary numbers

Specification Revised

Converting Binary to Hexadecimal

 Replace each hex digit with the equivalent nibble and put them together
Example:
AB(hex):
A (hex) = 10(denary) = 1010(binary)
B (hex) = 11(denary) = 1011(binary)
AB in hex = 10101011 in binary

Converting Denary to Hexadecimal

 Covert your denary number into binary in the normal way
 Split your 8 bit binary number into 2 nibbles
 Convert each nibble into a hex digit

Converting Hexadecimal to Denary

 All we do is multiply the numbers by their place values and add them
together. For example, take the hexadecimal number 4F.
Place Value 16 1
Hex Digits 3 F
Denary = 3 x 16 = 15 x 1
= 48 = 15

 48 + 15 = 63
 So, 3F is 63 in denary.

Appendix 1 contains alternative methods of conversion that you may prefer

 Representation of Data
Images
I can explain the representation of an image as a series of
pixels represented in binary
I can explain the need for metadata to be included in the
file such as height, width and colour depth
I can discuss the effect of colour depth and resolution on the
size of an image file.

Specification Revised

 Images are made up of pixels

 Each pixel is stored as a binary value
 A pixel (short for picture element) is one specific colour.
 The number of bits used for each pixel determines how many colours
we can use. This is known as the colour depth.
 The more bits per pixel (bpp) the greater the colour depth and the more
bits we need to store the image
 The resolution is the concentration of pixels. Usually measure in dots per
inch (DPI). The higher the more pixels.

 1 bit can represent 2 colours, i.e. black and

white
 2 bits can represent 4 colours
 8 bits can represent 256 colours
 16 bits can represent 65536 colours

 Using the binary data saved and metadata (data about the image) the
image can be reconstructed. Metadata includes data such as:
 The resolution
 Width and height
 Colour depth
 Exposure, ISO, Aperture
 File format

A larger colour depth and A smaller colour depth and

resolution = higher quality image resolution = lower quality image +
+ larger file size smaller file size
 Representation of Data
Characters
I can explain the use of binary codes to represent characters
I can explain the term character set
I can describe with examples (for example ASCII and
Unicode) the relationship between the number of bits per
character in a character set and the number of characters
which can be represented.

Specification Revised

 Every time a character is typed on a keyboard a code number is transmitted

to the computer.
 Characters are stored in binary by assigning a unique character binary code
to represent each character
 Different sets of codes are available for different types of computer.
 PCs use a character set called ASCII, American Standard Code for
Information Interchange.
 A character set is the group of characters that can be coded.
 Upper case and lower case character use different codes

ASCII DEC Binary

@ 064 100 0000
 7 Bit ASCII uses 7 bits which means that it can provide A 065 100 0001
127 characters or symbols plus the null character (128
B 066 100 0010
total)
 8 Bit (Extended) ASCII uses 8 bits making it possible to C 067 100 0011
use 256 characters or symbols D 068 100 0100
 Unicode: A 16-bit encoding system that has 216 (65,536) E 069 100 0101
different characters in its character set. F 070 100 0110
G 071 100 0111
Example of Bit ASCII code

 With all the languages and characters/symbols in the world ASCII is not
sufficient enough to represent all of these. Unicode uses 16 bits and allow a
much larger character set
 Representation of Data
Sound
I can explain how sound can be sampled an stored in digital
form
I can explain how sampling intervals and other considerations
affect the size of a sound file and the quality of its playback

Specification Revised

 Sound waves are analogue, which means continuously changing.

 Anything stored on a computer has to be stored as a series of binary
numbers, digital.
 To store sound on a computer we need to convert the waveform into a
numerical representation

Sound quality if affected by:

 Bit rate: The number of bits used to store each sample.
 The more bits used the better the accuracy of the sound file.
 Sample Interval: The time period between taking samples/measurements.
 The more frequent the sound is samples, the better the quality of
playback
A low sample rate means less samples
A higher sample rate means more
are taken and a poor match is made
samples and a better match
between the original and recorded
between the original and
sound = a smaller file size.
recorded sound = a larger file size.
A low bit rate = lower quality + smaller
A high bit rate = better quality +
file size
larger file size