C o m

C o mppuutterer FFununddaammenenttaallss::
P r ad
Pr adeeepep KK.. SSiinhanha && PPrriititi SSiinhanha

Digital Electronics:
Introduction to Number System
Daffodil International University
Learning Objectives

I n this chapter you w ill learn about:

§ Non-positional number system

§ Positional number system
§ Decimal number system
§ Binary number system
§ Octal number system
§ Hexadecimal number system

(Continued on next slide)

Number Systems

Two types of number systems are:

§ Non-positional number systems

§ Positional number systems

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
Posit ional N um ber Syst em s

§ Characterist ics

§ 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)

 Posit ional N um ber Syst em s
( Continued from previous slide..)

§ The value of each digit is determined by:

•The digit itself
•The position of the digit in the number
•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
Decim al N um ber Syst em

Characterist ics
§ 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)

(Continued on next slide)

 Decim al N um ber Syst em
( Continued from previous slide..)

Example

258610 = (2 x 103) + (5 x 102) + (8 x 101) + (6 x 100)

= 2000 + 500 + 80 + 6
Binary N um ber Syst em

Characterist ics
§ A positional number system
§ Has only 2 symbols or digits (0 and 1). Hence
base = 2 its
§ 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)

 Binary N um ber Syst em
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple

101012 = (1 x 24) + (0 x 23) + (1 x 22) + (0 x 21) x (1 x 20)

= 16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1

= 2110
Represent ing N um bers in Different N um ber
Syst em s

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
Bit

§ Bit stands for binary digit

§ A bit in computer terminology means either a 0 or

a1

§ A binary number consisting of n bits is called an

n-bit number
Oct al N um ber Syst em

Characterist ics
§ 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)

 Oct al N um ber Syst em
( Continued from previous slide..)

§ Since there are only 8 digits, 3 bits = 8)

(23
sufficient to represent any octal number in binary
are

Exam ple

20578 = (2 x 83) + (0 x 82) + (5 x 81) + (7 x 80)

= 1024 + 0 + 40 + 7
= 107110
Hexadecim al N um ber Syst em

Characterist ics
§ 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)

 Hexadecim al N um ber Syst em
( Continued from previous slide..)

§ 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

Exam ple
1AF16 = (1 x 162) + (A x 161) + (F x 160)
= 1 x 256 + 10 x 16 + 15 x 1
= 256 + 160 + 15
= 43110
Convert ing a N um ber of Anot her Base t o a
Decim al N um ber

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)

Convert ing a N um ber of Anot her Base t o a
Decim al N um ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple
47068 = ?10
Common
values
multiplied by
47068 = 4 x 83 + 7 x 82 + 0 x 81 + 6 x 80 the
corresponding
= 4 x 512 + 7 x 64 + 0 + 6 x 1 digits
= 2048 + 448 + 0 + 6 Sum of these
products
= 250210
 Convert ing a Decim al N um ber t o a N um ber of
Anot her Base
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple
95210 = ?8

Solut ion:
8 952
119 s 0
Remainder
14 7
1 6
0 1

Hence, 95210 = 16708

Convert ing a N um ber of Som e Base t o a N um
ber of Anot her Base

Method
Step 1: Convert the number to a
original number decimal
(base 10)
Step 2: Convert the decimal number so obtained
to the new base number

(Continued on next slide)

Convert ing a N um ber of Som e t o a N um
Base of Anot her Base ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple
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)

Convert ing a N um ber of Som e t o a N um
Base of Anot her Base ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

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

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing a Binary N um
ber t o it s Equivalent Oct al N um ber

Met hod
Step 1: Divide the digits into groups of three starting
from the right

Step Convert each group of three binary digits to

2: one octal digit using the method of binary
to decimal conversion

(Continued on next slide)

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing a Binary N um
ber t o it s Equivalent Oct al N um ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple
11010102 = ?8

Step 1: Divide the binary digits into groups of 3 starting

from right

001 101010

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

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing an Oct al
N um ber t o I t s Equivalent Binary N um
ber
Met hod
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 single binary
number a

(Continued on next slide)

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing an Oct al
N um ber t o I t s Equivalent Binary N um
ber
Exam ple
( Continued from previous slide..)

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

 Computer Fundamentals: Pradeep K. Sinha & Priti Sinha
Short cut Met hod for Convert ing
a Binary
N um ber t o it s Equivalent
Hexadecim al N um ber

Step Divide the

Metbinary
hod digits into groups of
1: four starting from the right

Step 2: Combine each group of four binary digits to

one hexadecimal digit

(Continued on next slide)

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing a Binary
N um ber t o it s Equivalent Hexadecim al N um ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple

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

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing a Hexadecim al
N um ber t o it s Equivalent Binary N um ber

Met hod

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)

Short cut Met hod for Convert ing a Hexadecim al
N um ber t o it s Equivalent Binary N um ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple

2AB16 = ?2

Step 1: Convert each hexadecimal digit to a 4 digit

binary number

216 = 210 = 00102

A16 = 1010 = 10102
B16 = 1110 = 10112
Short cut Met hod for Convert ing a Hexadecim al
N um ber t o it s Equivalent Binary N um ber
( Continued from previous slide..)

Step 2: Combine the binary groups

2AB16 = 0010 1010 1011
2 A B

Hence, 2AB16 = 0010101010112

Form at ion of Fract ional N um bers in
Binary N um ber Syst em ( Exam ple)

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/
16
1 2 1 4 1 8
Represented / / /

(Continued on next slide)

Form at ion of Fract ional N um bers in
Binary N um ber Syst em ( Exam ple)
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple

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
Form at ion of Fract ional N um bers in
Oct al N um ber Syst em ( Exam ple)

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/
64 512
1 8
Represented /

(Continued on next slide)

Form at ion of Fract ional N um bers in
Oct al N um ber Syst em ( Exam ple)
( Continued from previous slide..)

Exam ple

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
Key W ords/ Phrases
§ Base § Least Significant Digit (LSD)
§ Binary number system § Memory dump
§ Binary point § Most Significant Digit (MSD)
§ Bit § Non-positional number
§ Decimal number system system
§ Division-Remainder technique § Number system
§ Fractional numbers § Octal number system
§ Hexadecimal number system § Positional number system

Thank You