COMPUTER SCIENCE

19 March 2025

Length: 40 Minutes Total Allocated Marks: 40

Name: ________________________
Surname: ________________________

Instructions to candidates:
❖ Answer all questions.
❖ Use only black or blue ink.
❖ Use both sides of the paper.
❖ Do not tear out any parts of this booklet.
❖ All work MUST be handed in.
❖ If you have used any additional sheets or booklets, please ensure that you have attached
those documents, to this booklet.

For Examiner Use:

PERCENTAGE
1. Khazimla identifies four hexadecimal numbers.

Write the denary number for each of the three hexadecimal numbers:

2C ..........................................................................................................................................

101 ...........................................................................................................................................

FD ...........................................................................................................................................

21A ...................................................................................................................................... [4]

Work Space

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2. Stefan is using the Internet when she gets the message:

“D03, page is not available”

Stefan remembers that hexadecimal is often used to represent binary values in error codes.

Convert the hexadecimal number in the error message into 12-bit binary.

[3]

Computer Science Page 2 of 6

The stopwatch is stopped at:

02 : 31 : 58

Hours Minutes Seconds

An 8-bit register is used to store each pair of digits.

a. Write the 8-bit binary numbers that are currently stored for the Hours, Minutes and
Seconds. [3]

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

b. The stopwatch is started again and then stopped.

When the watch is stopped, the 8-bit binary registers show:

Hours 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

Minutes 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0

Seconds 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1

Write the denary values that will now be shown on the stopwatch. [3]

: :

Hours Minutes Seconds

Computer Science Page 3 of 6

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4. When a key is pressed on the keyboard, the computer stores the ASCII representation of
the character typed into main memory.

The ASCII representation for A is 65 (denary), for B is 66 (denary), etc.

There are two letters stored in the following memory locations:

Location 1 A
Location 2 C

a. Show the contents of Location 1 and Location 2 as binary using 8 bits.

Location 1

Location 2

[2]
b. Show the contents of Location 1 and Location 2 as hexadecimal.

Location 1…...................................................................................................................

Location 2..................................................................................................................[2]

c. The following machine code instruction is stored in a location of main memory:

1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1

d. Convert this binary pattern into hexadecimal.

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5. Explain why a programmer would prefer to see the contents of the locations displayed as
hexadecimal rather than binary, when debugging his program that reads the key presses.

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a. Complete the following binary addition. Show your working.

1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1

+ 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1

[3]

b. Describe the error that occurred when you added the binary numbers in part (a).

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7. Humans use a denary number system and computers use a binary number system.

a. Explain what is meant by a binary number system.

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b. Convert the denary numbers 14, 59 and 234 to binary:

14...............................................................................................................................................

59...............................................................................................................................................

234….......................................................................................................................................
[3]
Work Space

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Computer Science Page 5 of 6

9...............................................................................................................................................

26...............................................................................................................................................

65….......................................................................................................................................
[3]

Work Space

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d. Add the binary values 00110011 and 01111000 using binary addition.

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