Number systems and bases

Be familiar with the concept of a natural number and the set ℕ of natural numbers (including zero). Be familiar with the concept of an integer and the set ℤ of integers.
Be familiar with the concept of a rational number and the set ℚ of rational numbers, and that this set includes the integers. Be familiar with the concept of an irrational number.
Be familiar with the concept of a real number and the set ℝ of real numbers, which includes the natural numbers, the rational numbers and the irrational numbers.
Be familiar with the concept of ordinal numbers and their use to describe the numerical positions of objects.
Be familiar with the use of: • natural numbers for counting • real numbers for measurement
1. Match the following terms with their corresponding definitions and then provide examples of numbers which prove your understanding.
Definition Examples to prove your understanding
Integers: “The set of all integers whether positive,
ℕ negative or zero.” Answer -1, 0, 1,2,3

“A number which cannot be expressed as a fraction and

ℤ which has an endless series of non-repeating digits.” Answer. Pi, e

Rational numbers: “The set of all values that can be

ℚ expressed as a ratio or faction.” Answer. 1,2,3, 3/2

Irrational “The infinite set of natural numbers, including zero.” Answer, -1,0,1,2,3,4,5
numbers

ℝ “Describe the numerical position of objects.” Answer. First second third

Ordinal “The set of all possible real world quantities expressed as

numbers. These numbers are used for measurement” Answer 1,2,3,4,5
numbers
Number systems and bases
Be familiar with the concept of a number base, in particular: • decimal (base 10) • binary (base 2) • hexadecimal (base 16)
Convert between decimal, binary and hexadecimal number bases
Be familiar with, and able to use, hexadecimal as a shorthand for binary and to understand why it is used in this way
1. Convert the base-2 binary number 1111 1111 into denary and hexadecimal. Make sure to show your working
Denary Binary Hex
0 0000 0
1 0001 1 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Base 2 binary weighting line
2 0010 2
3 0011 3
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 257
4 0100 4
5 0101 5
6 0110 6
FF
7 0111 7
8 1000 8
9 1001 9
10 1010 A
11 1011 B
12 1100 C
13 1101 D
14 1110 E
15 1111 F
Number systems and bases
Be familiar with the concept of a number base, in particular: • decimal (base 10) • binary (base 2) • hexadecimal (base 16)
Convert between decimal, binary and hexadecimal number bases
Be familiar with, and able to use, hexadecimal as a shorthand for binary and to understand why it is used in this way
1. Convert the base-16 hexadecimal number DCA into binary and denary. Make sure to show your working.
Denary Binary Hex
0 0000 0
1 0001 1
2 0010 2 DCA = 1101 1100 1010
3 0011 3
4 0100 4 13 * 16^2 + 12 * 16 + 10
5 0101 5 = 3530
6 0110 6
7 0111 7
8 1000 8
9 1001 9
10 1010 A
11 1011 B
12 1100 C
13 1101 D
14 1110 E
15 1111 F
Number systems and bases
Be familiar with the concept of a number base, in particular: • decimal (base 10) • binary (base 2) • hexadecimal (base 16)
Convert between decimal, binary and hexadecimal number bases
Be familiar with, and able to use, hexadecimal as a shorthand for binary and to understand why it is used in this way
1. Explain why computers / computer programs use
Hexadecimal to store colours as shown here:

Hexadecimal code
to represent colour
Number systems and bases
Know that: • the bit is the fundamental unit of information • a byte is a group of 8 bits
Know that the 2n different values can be represented with n bits
Know that quantities of bytes can be described using binary prefixes representing powers of 2 or using decimal prefixes representing powers of 10, eg one kibibyte is written as 1KiB = 210 B and
one kilobyte is written as 1 kB = 103 B
Know the names, symbols and corresponding powers of 2 for the binary prefixes and powers of 10 for the decimal prefixes.

1. Complete the following table to show your understanding of the various names and shorthand used when referring to
computer storage volumes. The first row has been filled out for you.

Name Symbol Power Value Name Symbol Power Value

Base-2 Base 10
kibi Ki 210 1,024 Kilo K or k 103 1000
Coding text & graphics
Differentiate between the character code representation of a decimal digit and its pure binary representation
Describe ASCII and Unicode coding systems for coding character data and explain why Unicode was introduced.

1. Both of these text files contain “exactly” the same contents. One is stored using the ASCII character set and the other
UNICODE. Write a paragraph which explains the difference in size.
Coding text & graphics
Describe and explain the use of:
• parity bits • majority voting
• checksums • check digits
1. Complete the following diagrams to show how the ASCII character ‘Y’ would be transmitted using both odd and even parity.

Voltage

High

Low
? 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
Odd parity
bit 8 bit 7 bit 6 bit 5 bit 4 bit 3 bit 2 bit 1
Parity
Bit
Character code for ‘Y’

Voltage

High

Low
? 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
Even parity
bit 8 bit 7 bit 6 bit 5 bit 4 bit 3 bit 2 bit 1
Parity
Bit
Character code for ‘Y’
Coding text & graphics
Describe and explain the use of:
• parity bits • majority voting
• checksums • check digits
2. The following message has been received in a data block. Assume the system is using even parity. The message “A VERY
THICK FOG” has been sent, but it has an error in it. Perform parity checks vertically and horizontally on this data block to
find the error and correct the message.
Corrected Message
Actual Message received
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 A
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 A
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 V
0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 V
1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 E
1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 E
1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 R
1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 R
0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 Y
0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 Y
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 T
1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 T
0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 H
0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 H
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 I
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 I
1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 C
1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 C
0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 K
0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 K
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 D
1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 D
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 O
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 O
0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 G
0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 G
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Coding text & graphics
Describe and explain the use of:
• parity bits • majority voting
• checksums • check digits
1. Calculate the check digit for the number 1587 using the Modulo-11 system, this method has been outlined below for you.
MODULO-11
STEP 1: Each digit of the code number is assigned a ‘weight’. The right hand (least significant digit is given a weight of 2, the next digit to the left 3 and so on.
STEP 2: Each digit is multiplied by its weight and the products added together.
STEP 3: The sum of the products is divided by 11 and the remainder obtained.
STEP 4: The remainder is subtracted from 11.
STEP 5: The result is divided again by 11 and the remainder is the check digit.

Answer (with working)