BASIC IT SKILLS

(IST50US)

Prepared By Ms V. Lazarus - 2020

Oct 29, 2021

Introduction to Numbering Systems

• We are all familiar with the decimal number

system (Base 10). Some other number
systems that we will work with are:

– Binary  Base 2
– Octal  Base 8
– Hexadecimal  Base 16
 A numbering system assigns meaning to the
position of the numeric symbols.

Bits, Bytes, Words

•A byte is 8 bits…… enough to hold one character.
•A kilobyte (KB) is 1024 bytes……enough to hold
about one page of text.
•A megabyte (MB) is 1024 kilobytes, or 1,048,576
bytes…… about enough to hold a digital picture.
Characteristics of Numbering Systems

1) The digits are consecutive.

2) The number of digits is equal to the size of the
base.
3) Zero is always the first digit.
4) The base number is never a digit.
5) When 1 is added to the largest digit, a sum of
zero and a carry of one results.
6) Numeric values are determined by the implicit
positional values of the digits.
 Significant Digits
Binary: 11101101

Most significant digit Least significant digit

Hexadecimal: 1D63A7A

Most significant digit Least significant digit

 Binary Number System
• Also called the “Base 2 system”
• The binary number system is used to model the series of electrical
signals computers use to represent information
• 0 represents the no voltage or an off state
• 1 represents the presence of voltage or an
on state
 Binary Numbers

• Digital computers are made up of electronic circuits, which have

exactly 2 states: on and off.
 
• Computers use a numbering system which has exactly 2
symbols, representing on and off.
 
• Decimal is base 10 and has 10 digits: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
 
• Binary is base 2 and has 2, so we use only 2 symbols:0,1
Binary Numbering Scale

Base 2 Number Base 10 Equivalent Power Positional Value

000 0 20 1
001 1 21 2
010 2 22 4
011 3 23 8
100 4 24 16
101 5 25 32
110 6 26 64
111 7 27 128
Characteristics of Numbering Systems

1) The digits are consecutive.

2) The number of digits is equal to the size of the
base.
3) Zero is always the first digit.
4) The base number is never a digit.
5) When 1 is added to the largest digit, a sum of
zero and a carry of one results.
6) Numeric values are determined by the implicit
positional values of the digits.
 Significant Digits
Binary: 11101101

Most significant digit Least significant digit

Hexadecimal: 1D63A7A

Most significant digit Least significant digit

 Decimal to Binary Conversion
• The easiest way to convert a decimal number to its binary equivalent is
to use the Division Algorithm
• This method repeatedly divides a decimal number by 2 and records
the quotient and remainder 
– The remainder digits (a sequence of zeros and ones) form the binary
equivalent in least significant to most significant digit sequence
 Division Algorithm

Convert 67 to its binary equivalent:

6710 = x2
Step 1: 67 / 2 = 33 R 1 Divide 67 by 2. Record quotient in next row

Step 2: 33 / 2 = 16 R 1 Again divide by 2; record quotient in next row

Step 3: 16 / 2 = 8 R 0 Repeat again

Step 4: 8 / 2 = 4 R 0 Repeat again

Step 5: 4 / 2 = 2 R 0 Repeat again

Step 6: 2 / 2 = 1 R 0 Repeat again

Step 7: 1 / 2 = 0 R 1 STOP when quotient equals 0

1 0 0 0 0 1 12
 Binary to Decimal Conversion
• The easiest method for converting a binary
number to its decimal equivalent is to use the
Multiplication Algorithm
• Multiply the binary digits by increasing powers
of two, starting from the right
• Then, to find the decimal number equivalent,
sum those products
 Multiplication Algorithm
Convert (10101101)2 to its decimal equivalent:

Binary 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1

Positional Values

x x x x x x x x
27 26 25 24 23 2 2 21 20
Products 128 + 32 + 8 + 4 + 1

17310
 Octal Number System
• Also known as the Base 8 System
• Uses digits 0 - 7
• Readily converts to binary
• Groups of three (binary) digits can be used to
represent each octal digit
• Also uses multiplication and division
algorithms for conversion to and from base 10
 Hexadecimal Number System
• Base 16 system
• Uses digits 0-9 &
letters A,B,C,D,E,F
• Groups of four bits
represent each
base 16 digit
 Decimal to Hexadecimal Conversion

Convert 83010 to its hexadecimal equivalent:

830 / 16 = 51 R14
51 / 16 = 3 R3
3 / 16 = 0 R3 = E in Hex

33E16
 Hexadecimal to Decimal Conversion

Convert 3B4F16 to its decimal equivalent:

Hex Digits

3 B 4 F
x x x x
Positional Values
163 162 161 160
Products 12288 +2816 + 64 +15

15,18310
 Binary to Hexadecimal Conversion

• The easiest method for converting binary to hexadecimal is to use a

substitution code
• Each hex number converts to 4 binary digits
 Binary numbers and arithmetic

Oct 29, 2021 MS PETRUS

 Addition (decimal)

11
1 5 1
5 1
6 12
4  14 5 5  99
5 19 10 11 111
 Addition (binary)

1
0 1 0 1
0 0 1 1
0 1 1 10
Addition (binary)

1 11 1
011 01
 01011
11000
 Addition (binary)

1
0 1 0 1
0 0 1 1
0 1 1 10

So can we count in binary?

 Exercise 1
• 101
+ 110
= 1011
• 1111
+ 10100
= 100011
 Exercise 2

a) 1 0 1 0 + 1 0
b) 1 0 + 1 1 0
c) 1 0 1 1 + 1 0 1 0
d) 1 1 1 1 + 1 0 1
e) 1 0 1 1 1 0 + 1 1 1 0
f) 1 1 0 1 + 1 0 1
 Binary Subtraction
• Here are too four simple steps to keep in
memory
• 0–0=0
• 0 – 1 = 1, borrow 1 from the next more
significant bit
• 1–0=1
• 1–1=0
 Binary Subtraction examples

• 1011011 − 10010 = 100100  

• 000101 − 101100 = 11001
• 1010110 − 101010 = 101100
•  1110110 − 1010111 = 11111
• 100010110 − 1111010 = 10011100
Multiplication (decimal)

13
 11
13
 130
143
 Multiplication of Binary Numbers

• Rule to follow when binary numbers are

multiplied:
• 0x0=0
• 0x1=0
• 1x0=0
• 1x1=1
Multiplication (binary)

1101
 1011
1101
11010
 1101000
10001111
Multiplication of Binary Numbers examples

• 10111 by 1101