Number Systems Page 1 of 6

Number Systems
A number system is a way of grouping a value.

Instead of this:

We can group the dots like this: 2 groups of 10, plus 8 or 28.

If they were eggs we might group them like this: 2 groups of 12, or 2 dozen, plus 4.

In the binary (base 2) number system we would group them like this: 1 group of 16, 1 group of 8, and 1
group of 4. (There are no groups of 2 or 1)

The number of dots in each picture is the same. They are just grouped differently.

The number system we use every day, the decimal number system, is based on 10.

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Number Systems Page 2 of 6

Decimal Number System

The decimal number system is a place system. The right most place is the ones place. As we move from
right to left, each place is 10 times the previous place.

Place: 1000 100 10 1

Digit: 1 0 4 3
Value: 1x1000 0x100 4x10 3x1

The number 1043 means 1 group of 1000, 0 groups of 100, 4 groups of 10 and 3 groups of 1.

You cannot leave out the 0 in the 100s place. 1043 is not the same as 143.

The place values can also be written as powers of 10. The two rows in the table below have the same
values.

Place: 1000 100 10 1

Power: 103 102 101 100

In the decimal system, there are 10 digits 0, 1, ,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. There can only be 1 digit in a place.
You cannot put a 12 in the tens place. For 12 groups of 10, You would need to put a 2 in the 10s place,
and a 1 in the hundreds place: 120. Sometimes we called that carrying: We carry a 1 to the hundreds
place.

Binary Number System

The binary system uses a base of 2. There are 2 digits: 0 and 1. Binary is used in computers because each
bit (binary digit) can have just one of two values. We usually represent those two values as 1 and 0, but
it can also be thought of as true or false; on or off.

The binary number system is a place system. The right most place is the ones place. As we move from
right to left, each place is 2 times the previous place.

Place: 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 0 1 1
Value: 1x8 0x4 1x2 1x1
The value of the binary number 10112 =1x8 + 0x4 + 1x2 + 1x1 = 8 + 4 + 2 = 1410.

For practical purposes we just add together the value of each place that has a one in it.

We read the binary number 1011 as "one zero one one." Do not say "one thousand eleven," those
terms refer to the decimal system.

The place values can also be written as powers of 2. The two rows in the table below have the same
values.

Place: 8 4 2 1
Power: 23 22 21 20

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Number Systems Page 3 of 6

Convert Binary to Decimal

Let's convert the binary number 11011 to decimal. Start by writing the place values, starting on the
right with one, then keep multiplying by 2 as you move to the right:

Place: 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 0 1 1

Now add together the places that have a 1: 16+8+2+1= 27.

We can write this as 110112 = 2710 Say this as "one one zero one one in the base 2 equals twenty seven
in the base ten." We often leave out "base 10" because that is the default number system for humans.

Let's do another one: Convert 111012 to decimal.

Place: 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 1 0 1
Now add together the places that have a 1: 16+8+4+1= 29.

Now a hard one: 101110002

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
Now add together the places that have a 1: 128+32+16+8= 184.

101110002 =18410

Convert Decimal to Binary

To convert the decimal number 236 to binary, write as many places as you need, starting on the right
with the ones places and multiplying by 2 as you move to the left:

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
The next place would be 256, but we don't need it because 256 is more than 236, the number we are
converting.

Next put a 1 in the right most place:

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1
Now subtract 128 from 236: 236-128 = 108. In other words, we started with 236 and we used up 128
when we put a 1 in the 128 place, so we now have 108.

108 is more than 64, so we put a 1 in the 64 place and subtract 64.

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1
Now subtract 64 from 108: 108-65 = 44.

44 is more than 32, so put a 1 in the 32 place and subtract 32.

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Number Systems Page 4 of 6

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 1
Now subtract 32 from 44: 44-32 = 12.

12 is less than 16, so put a 0 in the 16 place.

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 1 0
12 is more than 8, so put a 1 in the 8 place.

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 1 0 1
12 is more than 8, so put a 1 in the 8 place and subtract 8 from 12. 12-8=4.

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 1 0 1
The next place is the 4's place and we have 4 left. We put a 1 in the 4's place and put a 0 in each of the
remaining places:

Place: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Digit: 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0

Check the answer: does 128+64+32+8+4 equal 236? Yes! Excellent!

Hexadecimal
If we write a large number as a binary number, it can be quite long.

The hexadecimal, (hex) base 16, is used because every 4 binary digits can be represented by one
hexadecimal digit.

In binary, base 2, there are 2 digits: 0, 1.

In decimal, base 10, there are 10 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

In hexadecimal, base 16, there are 16 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F.

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Number Systems Page 5 of 6

The table below shows the corresponding values of decimal, binary, and hexadecimal:

Decimal Binary Hexadecimal

0 0000 0
1 0001 1
2 0010 2
3 0011 3
4 0100 4
5 0101 5
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

To convert a binary number to hexadecimal, first break it into groups of 4 starting on the right. You can
always add 0 on the left without changing the value of a number. If the left most group does not have 4
digits, just add zeroes on the left to make a group of 4. Then replace each group of 4 with the
corresponding hexadecimal digit from the table above.

Example: Convert 10110111110112 to hexadecimal (base 16)

Break into groups of 4 starting on the RIGHT: 0001,0110,1111,1011

Write the hexadecimal digit for each group of 4:

0001,0110,1111,1011

1 6 F B

There we have it: 10110111110112 = 16FB16

The place values in hexadecimal start with the ones place on the right, then multiply by 16 for each
place moving to the left:

1,048,576 65,536 4096 256 16 1

165 164 163 162 161 160

The hexadecimal number 16FB is shown below with the place values:

4096 256 16 1
1 6 F B

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Number Systems Page 6 of 6

The decimal value is 1x4096 + 6x256 + 15x16 + 11x1.

Or: 4096 + 1536 + 240 +11, which is 5883.

Fortunately, we don't usually have to convert hexadecimal to decimal.

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