Number representation

Common Number Systems

Used by Used in
System Base Symbols humans? computers?
Decimal 10 0, 1, … 9 Yes No
Binary 2 0, 1 No Yes
Octal 8 0, 1, … 7 No No
Hexa- 16 0, 1, … 9, No No
decimal A, B, … F
 Conversion Among Bases
• The possibilities:

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal

pp. 40-
46
 Decimal to Binary
• Technique
– Divide by two, keep track of the remainder
– First remainder is bit 0 (LSB, least-significant
bit)
– Second remainder is bit 1
– Etc.
 Example
12510 = ?2 2 125
2 62 1

2 31 0
15 1
2
7 1
2
2 3 1

2 1 1
0 1

12510 = 11111012
 Binary to Decimal
• Technique
– Multiply each bit by 2n, where n is the “weight”
of the bit
– The weight is the position of the bit, starting
from 0 on the right
– Add the results
 Example
Bit “0”

1010112 => 1 x 20 = 1
1 x 21 = 2
0 x 22 = 0
1 x 23 = 8
0 x 24 = 0
1 x 25 = 32
4310
 Decimal to Octal
• Technique
– Divide by 8
– Keep track of the remainder
 Example
123410 = ?8

8 1234
154 2
8
19 2
8
2 3
8
0 2

123410 = 23228
 Octal to Decimal
• Technique
– Multiply each bit by 8n, where n is the “weight”
of the bit
– The weight is the position of the bit, starting
from 0 on the right
– Add the results
 Example

7248 => 4 x 80 = 4
2 x 81 = 16
7 x 82 = 448
46810
 Decimal to Hexadecimal
• Technique
– Divide by 16
– Keep track of the remainder
 Example
123410 = ?16

16 1234
16 77 2

16 4 13 = D
0 4

123410 = 4D216
 Hexadecimal to Decimal
• Technique
– Multiply each bit by 16n, where n is the
“weight” of the bit
– The weight is the position of the bit, starting
from 0 on the right
– Add the results
 Example

ABC16 => C x 160 = 12 x 1 = 12

B x 161 = 11 x 16 = 176
A x 162 = 10 x 256 = 2560
274810
 Binary to Octal
• Technique
– Group bits in threes, starting on right
– Convert to octal digits
 Example
10110101112 = ?8

1 011 010 111

1 3 2 7

10110101112 = 13278
 Octal to Binary
• Technique
– Convert each octal digit to a 3-bit equivalent
binary representation
 Example
7058 = ?2

7 0 5

111 000 101

7058 = 1110001012
 Binary to Hexadecimal
• Technique
– Group bits in fours, starting on right
– Convert to hexadecimal digits
 Example
10101110112 = ?16

10 1011 1011

2 B B

10101110112 = 2BB16
 Octal to Hexadecimal
• Technique
– Use binary as an intermediary
 Hexadecimal to Binary
• Technique
– Convert each hexadecimal digit to a 4-bit
equivalent binary representation
 Example
10AF16 = ?2

1 0 A F

0001 0000 1010 1111

10AF16 = 00010000101011112
 Octal to Hexadecimal
• Technique
– Use binary as an intermediary
 Example
10768 = ?16

1 0 7 6

001 000 111 110

2 3 E

10768 = 23E16
 Hexadecimal to Octal
• Technique
– Use binary as an intermediary
 Example
1F0C16 = ?8

1 F 0 C

0001 1111 0000 1100

1 7 4 1 4

1F0C16 = 174148
 Binary Addition
• Two n-bit values
– Add individual bits
– Propagate carries
– E.g.,
1 1
10101 21
+ 11001 + 25
101110 46
 Multiplication
• Binary, two n-bit values
– As with decimal values
– E.g.,
1110
x 1011
1110
1110
0000
1110
10011010
 Binary Division

101 11100101
 Signed Binary Numbers
• The major drawback with the representation
that we've used for unsigned binary numbers is
that it doesn't include a way to represent
negative numbers.

• There are a number of ways to extend the

unsigned representation to include negative
numbers.
• One of the easiest is to add an additional bit to
each number that is used to represent the sign
of the number{ if this bit is 1, then the number is
negative, otherwise the number is positive (or
vice versa).

• Unfortunately, when we try to adapt the

algorithm for addition to work properly with this
representation, this apparently simple method
turns out to cause some trouble.
• Instead of simply adding the numbers together
as we do with unsigned numbers, we now need
to consider whether the numbers being added
are positive or negative.

• If one number is positive and the other negative,

then we actually need to
• do subtraction instead of addition, so we'll need
to find an algorithm for subtraction.
• Furthermore, once we've done the subtraction,
we need to compare the unsigned
• magnitudes of the numbers to determine
whether the result is positive or negative.
• Luckily, there is a representation that allows us
to represent negative numbers in such a way
that addition (or subtraction) can be done
easily, using algorithms very similar to the ones
that we already have.

• The representation that we will use is called

two's complement notation.