Volume 01

Number Systems
CSE115: Computing Concepts
Introduction to Numbering Systems

• Base: The number of fundamental symbols in a

numbering system (e.g. 0, 1, 2 etc.)

• 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

2
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

• Decimal numbers are used by humans

• Binary numbers are used by computers
• Octal and Hexa-decimal numbers are useful to represent long
• binary numbers in short form
Lets do some counting (1 of 3)

Hexa-
Decimal Binary Octal decimal
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1
2 10 2 2
3 11 3 3
4 100 4 4
5 101 5 5
6 110 6 6
7 111 7 7
Lets do some counting (2 of 3)

Hexa-
Decimal Binary Octal decimal
8 1000 10 8
9 1001 11 9
10 1010 12 A
11 1011 13 B
12 1100 14 C
13 1101 15 D
14 1110 16 E
15 1111 17 F
Lets do some counting (3 of 3)

Hexa-
Decimal Binary Octal decimal
16 10000 20 10
17 10001 21 11
18 10010 22 12
19 10011 23 13
20 10100 24 14
21 10101 25 15
22 10110 26 16 Etc.
23 10111 27 17
Bits and Bytes

A single binary digit is called a bit.

A collection of 8 bits is called a byte.

There are 2 fundamental digits in the

binary number system. One of them
is 0 and the other is 1.
Write the base as subscript

2510 = 110012 = 318 = 1916

Base
Conversion Among Bases
• The possibilities:

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
A closer look at a decimal number
Weight

12510 => 5 x 100 = 5

2 x 101 = 20
1 x 102 = 100
125

Base
Binary to Decimal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
Binary to Decimal
• Technique
n
• Multiply each bit by 2 , 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
Octal to Decimal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
Octal to Decimal
• Technique
n
• Multiply each bit by 8 , 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
Hexadecimal to Decimal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
Hexadecimal to Decimal
• Technique
n
• Multiply each bit by 16 , 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
Decimal to Binary

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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
2 15 1
2 7 1
2 3 1
2 1 1
0 1

12510 = 11111012
Decimal to Octal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
Decimal to Octal
• Technique
• Divide by 8
• Keep track of the remainder
Example

123410 = ?8

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

123410 = 23228
Decimal to Hexadecimal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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
Octal to Binary

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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 Octal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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
Hexadecimal to Binary

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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
Binary to Hexadecimal

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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

Decimal Octal

Binary Hexadecimal
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
Conversion Exercise

Hexa-
Decimal Binary Octal decimal
33
1110101
703
1AF

Try not to use a calculator!

Conversion Exercise

Answer

Hexa-
Decimal Binary Octal decimal
33 100001 41 21
117 1110101 165 75
451 111000011 703 1C3
431 110101111 657 1AF