Computer Fundamentals : Pradeep K.
Sinha & Priti Sinha
Number Systems
1/<##>
Number Systems
Two types of number systems are:
Positional number systems
Non-positional number systems
2/<##>
Non-positional Number Systems
Characteristics
Use symbols such as I for 1, II for 2, III for 3, IIII
for 4, IIIII for 5, etc
Each symbol represents the same value regardless
of its position in the number
The symbols are simply added to find out the value
of a particular number
Difficulty
It is difficult to perform arithmetic with such a
number system
3/<##>
Positional Number Systems
Characteristics
Use only a few symbols called digits
These symbols represent different values depending
on the position they occupy in the number
(Continued on next slide)
4/<##>
Positional Number Systems
The value of each digit is determined by:
1. The digit itself
2. The position of the digit in the number
3. The base of the number system
(base = total number of digits in the number
system)
The maximum value of a single digit is always equal to
one less than the value of the base
5/<##>
Decimal Number System
Characteristics
A positional number system
Has 10 symbols or digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9). Hence, its base = 10
The maximum value of a single digit is 9 (one less
than the value of the base)
Each position of a digit represents a specific power
of the base (10)
We use this number system in our day-to-day life
(Continued on next slide)
6/<##>
Decimal Number System
Example
258610 = (2 x 103) + (5 x 102) + (8 x 101) + (6 x 100)
= 2000 + 500 + 80 + 6
7/<##>
Binary Number System
Characteristics
A positional number system
Has only 2 symbols or digits (0 and 1). Hence its
base = 2
The maximum value of a single digit is 1 (one less
than the value of the base)
Each position of a digit represents a specific power
of the base (2)
This number system is used in computers
(Continued on next slide)
8/<##>
Binary Number System
Example
101012 = (1 x 24) + (0 x 23) + (1 x 22) + (0 x 21) x (1 x 20)
= 16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1
= 2110
9/<##>
Representing Numbers in Different
Number Systems
In order to be specific about which number system we
are referring to, it is a common practice to indicate the
base as a subscript. Thus, we write:
101012 = 2110
10/<##>
Bit
Bit stands for binary digit
A bit in computer terminology means either a 0 or a 1
A binary number consisting of n bits is called an n-bit
number
11/<##>
Octal Number System
Characteristics
A positional number system
Has total 8 symbols or digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
Hence, its base = 8
The maximum value of a single digit is 7 (one less
than the value of the base
Each position of a digit represents a specific power of
the base (8)
(Continued on next slide)
12/<##>
Octal Number System
Since there are only 8 digits, 3 bits (23 = 8) are
sufficient to represent any octal number in binary
Example
20578 = (2 x 83) + (0 x 82) + (5 x 81) + (7 x 80)
= 1024 + 0 + 40 + 7
= 107110
13/<##>
Hexadecimal Number System
Characteristics
A positional number system
Has total 16 symbols or digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F). Hence its base = 16
The symbols A, B, C, D, E and F represent the
decimal values 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15
respectively
The maximum value of a single digit is 15 (one less
than the value of the base)
(Continued on next slide)
14/<##>
Hexadecimal Number System
Each position of a digit represents a specific power
of the base (16)
Since there are only 16 digits, 4 bits (24 = 16) are
sufficient to represent any hexadecimal number in
binary
Example
1AF16 = (1 x 162) + (A x 161) + (F x 160)
= 1 x 256 + 10 x 16 + 15 x 1
= 256 + 160 + 15
= 43110
15/<##>
Converting a Number of Another Base to a
Decimal Number
Method
Step 1: Determine the column (positional) value of
each digit
Step 2: Multiply the obtained column values by the
digits in the corresponding columns
Step 3: Calculate the sum of these products
(Continued on next slide)
16/<##>
Converting a Number of Another Base to a
Decimal Number
Example
47068 = ?10
Column values
multiplied
by the
47068 = 4 x 83 + 7 x 82 + 0 x 81 + 6 x 80 corresponding
digits
= 4 x 512 + 7 x 64 + 0 + 6 x 1
= 2048 + 448 + 0 + 6 Sum of these
products
= 250210
17/<##>
Converting a Decimal Number to a Number
of Another Base
Division-Remainder Method
Step 1: Divide the decimal number to be converted by
the value of the new base
Step 2: Record the remainder from Step 1 as the
rightmost digit (least significant digit) of the
new base number
Step 3: Divide the quotient of the previous divide by the
new base
(Continued on next slide)
18/<##>
Converting a Decimal Number to a Number
of Another Base
Step 4: Record the remainder from Step 3 as the next
digit (to the left) of the new base number
Repeat Steps 3 and 4, recording remainders from right to
left, until the quotient becomes zero in Step 3
Note that the last remainder thus obtained will be the most
significant digit (MSD) of the new base number
(Continued on next slide)
19/<##>
Converting a Decimal Number to a Number
of Another Base
Example
95210 = ?8
Solution:
8 952 Remainders
119 0
14 7
1 6
0 1
Hence, 95210 = 16708
20/<##>
Converting from a Base Other Than 10 to
Another Base Other Than 10
Method
Step 1: Convert the original number to a decimal
number (base 10)
Step 2: Convert the decimal number so obtained to
the new base number
(Continued on next slide)
21/<##>
Converting from a Base Other Than 10 to
Another Base Other Than 10
Example
5456 = ?4
Solution:
Step 1: Convert from base 6 to base 10
5456 = 5 x 62 + 4 x 61 + 5 x 60
= 5 x 36 + 4 x 6 + 5 x 1
= 180 + 24 + 5
= 20910
(Continued on next slide)
22/<##>
Converting from a Base Other Than 10 to
Another Base Other Than 10
Step 2: Convert 20910 to base 4
4 209 Remainders
52 1
13 0
3 1
0 3
Hence, 20910 = 31014
So, 5456 = 20910 = 31014
Thus, 5456 = 31014
23/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Binary
Number to its Equivalent Octal Number
Method
Step 1: Divide the digits into groups of three starting
from the right
Step 2: Convert each group of three binary digits to
one octal digit using the method of binary to
decimal conversion
(Continued on next slide)
24/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Binary Number to its
Equivalent Octal Number
Example
1011102 = ?8
Step 1: Divide the binary digits into groups of 3 starting
from right
101 110
Step 2: Convert each group into one octal digit
1012 = 1 x 22 + 0 x 21 + 1 x 20 = 5
1102 = 1 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 0 x 20 = 6
Hence, 1011102 = 568
25/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Binary
Number to its Equivalent Octal Number
Example
11010102 = ?8
Step 1: Divide the binary digits into groups of 3 starting
from right
001 101 010
Step 2: Convert each group into one octal digit
0012 = 0 x 22 + 0 x 21 + 1 x 20 = 1
1012 = 1 x 22 + 0 x 21 + 1 x 20 = 5
0102 = 0 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 0 x 20 = 2
Hence, 11010102 = 1528
26/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting an Octal
Number to Its Equivalent Binary Number
Method
Step 1: Convert each octal digit to a 3 digit binary
number (the octal digits may be treated as
decimal for this conversion)
Step 2: Combine all the resulting binary groups
(of 3 digits each) into a single binary
number
(Continued on next slide)
27/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting an Octal
Number to Its Equivalent Binary Number
Example
5628 = ?2
Step 1: Convert each octal digit to 3 binary digits
58 = 1012, 68 = 1102, 28 = 0102
Step 2: Combine the binary groups
5628 = 101 110 010
5 6 2
Hence, 5628 = 1011100102
28/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Binary
Number to its Equivalent Hexadecimal Number
Method
Step 1: Divide the binary digits into groups of four
starting from the right
Step 2: Combine each group of four binary digits to
one hexadecimal digit
(Continued on next slide)
29/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Binary
Number to its Equivalent Hexadecimal Number
Example
1111012 = ?16
Step 1: Divide the binary digits into groups of four
starting from the right
0011 1101
Step 2: Convert each group into a hexadecimal digit
00112 = 0 x 23 + 0 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 1 x 20 = 310 = 316
11012 = 1 x 23 + 1 x 22 + 0 x 21 + 1 x 20 = 310 = D16
Hence, 1111012 = 3D16
30/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Hexadecimal
Number to its Equivalent Binary Number
Method
Step 1: Convert the decimal equivalent of each
hexadecimal digit to a 4 digit binary
number
Step 2: Combine all the resulting binary groups
(of 4 digits each) in a single binary number
(Continued on next slide)
31/<##>
Shortcut Method for Converting a Hexadecimal
Number to its Equivalent Binary Number
Example
2AB16 = ?2
Step 1: Convert each hexadecimal digit to a 4 digit
binary number
216 = 210 = 00102
A16 = 1010 = 10102
B16 = 1110 = 10112
Shortcut Method for Converting a Hexadecimal
Number to its Equivalent Binary Number
Step 2: Combine the binary groups
2AB16 = 0010 1010 1011
2 A B
Hence, 2AB16 = 0010101010112
33/<##>
Computer Fundamentals : Pradeep K. Sinha & Priti Sinha
Fractional Numbers
Chapter 03: Number Systems Slide 37/43
Fractional Numbers
Fractional numbers are formed same way as decimal
number system
In general, a number in a number system with base b
would be written as:
an an-1… a0 . a-1 a-2 … a-m
And would be interpreted to mean:
an x bn + an-1 x bn-1 + … + a0 x b0 + a-1 x b-1 + a-2 x b-2 +
… + a-m x b-m
The symbols an, an-1, …, a-m in above representation
should be one of the b symbols allowed in the number
system
35/<##>
Fractional Numbers
In the decimal number system.
Decimal system
0.235 = (2x10-1) + (2x10-2) + (2x10-3)
68.53 = (6x101) + (8x100) + (5x10-1) + (3x10-2)
36/<##>
Fractional Numbers
In the binary number system, fractional numbers are framed in
the same way as in the decimal number system.
Binary system
0.101 = (1x2-1) + (0x2-2) + (1x2-3)
10.01 = (1x21) + (0x20) + (0x2-1) + (1x2-2)
37/<##>
Formation of Fractional Numbers in
Binary Number System (Example)
Binary Point
Position 4 3 2 1 0 . -1 -2 -3 -4
Position Value 24 23 22 21 20 2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4
Quantity 16 8 4 2 1 1/ 1/ 1/ 1/
2 4 8 16
Represented
(Continued on next slide)
38/<##>
Decimal equivalent of Binary Number System
(Example)
Example
110.1012 = 1 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 0 x 20 + 1 x 2-1 + 0 x 2-2 + 1 x 2-3
= 4 + 2 + 0 + 0.5 + 0 + 0.125
= 6.62510
39/<##>
Formation of Fractional Numbers in
Octal Number System (Example)
Octal Point
Position 3 2 1 0 . -1 -2 -3
Position Value 83 82 81 80 8-1 8-2 8-3
Quantity 512 64 8 1 1/ 1/ 1/
8 64 512
Represented
(Continued on next slide)
40/<##>
Decimal equivalent of Octal Number System
(Example)
Example
127.548 = 1 x 82 + 2 x 81 + 7 x 80 + 5 x 8-1 + 4 x 8-2
= 64 + 16 + 7 + 5/8 + 4/64
= 87 + 0.625 + 0.0625
= 87.687510
41/<##>
Decimal equivalent of hexadecimal System
(Example)
Example
2B.C416 = 2x161+Bx160+C/16 +4/256
= 32+11+0.75+0.015625
= 43.76565210
42/<##>
Key Words/Phrases
Base Least Significant Digit (LSD)
Binary number system Memory dump
Binary point Most Significant Digit (MSD)
Bit Non-positional number
system
Decimal number system
Number system
Division-Remainder technique
Octal number system
Fractional numbers
Positional number system
Hexadecimal number system
