Unit 1 Number Systems

1.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to :

 define and describe number system
 identify how data is represented in computers
 convert a number from one number system to another
 describe how computers perform binary arithmatic

1.2 INTRODUCTION

Number system is a fundamental concept used in micro computer

system. They are of different types and can represent by some digit symbols.
The knowledge of binary, octal and hexadecimal number system is essential
to understand the operation of a computer. This unit deals with all this system.
In this unit we will discuss about all the representation of this number system
and their conversion from one number system to its equivalent other number
system. The arithmetic operations of all the system is very much important
to know how a system can operate our data inside. This is also discussed
in this unit. In addition you we will get the internal data representation method
which is called computer codes . Computer codes like BCD code
i

1.3 NUMBER SYSTEM

We are familier with the decimal number system which is used in

our day-to-day work. Ten digits are used to four decimal number. To represent
these decimal digits, ten separate symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are
used. But a digital computer stores, understands and manipulates
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Number Systems Unit 1

information composed of only zeros and ones. So, each decimal digits,
letters, symbols etc. written by the programmer (an user) are converted to
binary codes in the form of 0’s and 1’s within the computer. The number
system is divided into different categories according to the base (or radix)
of the system as binary, octal and hexadecimal. If a number system of base
r is a system, then the system have r distinct symbols for r digits. The
knowledge of the number system is essential to understand the operation
of a computer.

1.3.1 Decimal Number System

Decimal no. system have ten digits represented by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, Decimal Number

5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. So, the base or radix of such system is 10. System uses 10 digits
In this system the successive position to the left of the decimal from 0 to 9 to represents
its system.
point represent units, tens, hundreds, thousands etc. For example,
if we consider a dicimal number 1257, then the digit representations
are :
1 2 5 7

thousands hundreds tens units

positions position position position
The weight of each digit of a number depends on its relative
position within the number.
Example 1.1 :
The weight of each digit of the decimal no. 6472
6472 = 6000 + 400 + 70 + 2 = 6 × 103 + 4 × 102 + 7 × 101 + 2 × 100

The weight of digits from right hand side are :

Weight of 1st digit = 2 × 100
Weight of 2nd digit = 7 × 101
Weight of 3rd digit = 4 × 102
Weight of 4th digit = 6 × 103
The above expressions can be written in general forms as the
weight of nth digit of the number from the right hand side :
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Unit 1 Number Systems

= nth digit × 10n-1

= nth digit × (base)n-1
The no. system in which the weight of each digit depends on its
relative position within the number is called positional number
system. The above form of general expression is true only for
positional number system.

1.3.2 Binary Number System

A Binary Number Only two digits 0 and 1 are used to represent the binary number
System uses only digit 0 system. So the base or radix is two (2). The digits 0 and 1 are called
and 1
bits (Binary Digits). In this number system the value of the digit will
be two times greater than its predecessor. Thus the value of the
places are :
  32  16  8  4  2  1
The weight of each binary bit depends on its relative position
within the number. It is explained by the following example--

Example 1.2 :
The weight of bits of the binary number 10110 is :
= 1 × 24 + 0 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 1 × 21 + 0 × 20
= 16 + 0 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 22 (decimal number)
The weight of each bit of a binary no. depends on its relative
pointer within the no. and explained from right hand side as :
Weight of 1st bit = 1st bit X 20
Weight of 2nd bit = 2nd bit X 21
................................................
...............................................
and so on.
The weight of the nth bit of the number from right hand side
= nth bit × 2n-1
= nth bit × (Base)n-1
It is seen that this rule for a binary number is same as that for a
decimal number system. The above rule holds good for any other
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Number Systems Unit 1

positioned number system. The weight of a digit in any positioned

number system depends on its relative positon within the number
and the base of the number system.
Table 1.1 shows the binary equivalent numbers for decimal digits.

Table 1.1 : Binary equivalent of decimal numbers

Decimal Number Equivalent Binary Number
0 0
1 1
2 10
3 11
4 100
5 101
6 110
7 111
8 1000
9 1001
Binary Fractions : A binary fractions can be represented by a
series of 1s and 0s to the right of a binary point. The weight of digit
positions to the right of the binary point are given by 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 and
so on.

Example 1.3 : Show the representation of binary fraction 0.1101.

Solution : The binary representation of 0.1101 is :
0.1101 = 1 × 2-1 + 1 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 1 × 2-4
= 1 × 0.5 + 1 × 0.25 + 0 × 0.125 + 1 × 0.0625
= 0.8125
So, (0.1101)2 = (0.8125)10

1.3.3 Octal Number System

A commonly used positional number system is the Octal Number Octal Number System
uses 8 digits from 0 to 7.
System. This system has eight (8) digit representation as
0,1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7. The base or radix of this system is 8. The
values increase from left to right as 1,8,64,512, 4096 etc. The decimal
Digital Logic 9
Unit 1 Number Systems

value 8 is represented in octal as 10,9 as 11,10 as 12 and so on. As

8=23, an octal number is represented by a group of three binary
bits. For example 3 is represented as 011, 4 as 100 etc.

Table 1.2 The octal number and their binary representations.

Decimal Number Octal Number Binary Coded Octal No.

0 0 000
1 1 001
. . .
. . .
7 7 111
8 10 100 000
15 17 001 111

1.3.4 Hexadecimal Number System

Hexadecimal System The hexadecimal number system is now extensively used in

groups numbers by 16 computer industry. Its base (or radix) is 16, ie. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
and power of 16.
9, A, B, C, D, E, F. The hexadecimal numbers are used to represent
binary numbers because of case of conversion and compactness.

As 16 = 24, hexadecimal number is represented by a group of

four binary bits. For example, 5 is represented by 0101. Table 2.3
shows the binary equivalent of a decimal number and its hexadecimal
representation.

Table 1.3 : Hexadecimal number and their Binary representation

Decimal No. Hexadecimal No. Binary coded Hex. No

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

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Number Systems Unit 1

6 6 0110
7 7 0111
8 8 1000
9 9 1001
10 A 1010
11 B 1011
12 C 1100
13 D 1101
14 E 1110
15 F 1111

1.4 NUMBER SYSTEM CONVERSION

As the computer uses different number systems, there is a process

of converting generally used decimal number systems to other number
systems and vice-versa.

1.4.1 Binary to Decimal Conversion

To convert a binary number to its decimal equivalent we use the

following expression.The weight of the nth bit of the number from
right hand side
= nth bit × 2n-1
First we mark the bit position and then we give the weight of
each bit of the number depending on its position. The sum of the
weight of all bits gives the equivalent number.
Example 1.4 : Convert binary (100101)2 to its decimal equivalent.
Solution : (100101)2 = 1 × 25 + 0 × 24 + 0 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 1 × 20
= 32 + 0 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1
= 37
So, (100101)2 = (37)10
Mixed number contain both integer and fractional parts and can
convert to its decimal equivalent is as follows :

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Unit 1 Number Systems

Example 1.5 : Converting (11011.101)2 to its equivalent decimal no.

Solutaion :
(11011.101)2 = (1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 1 × 21 + 1 × 20) +
(1 × 2–1 + 0 × 2–2 + 1 × 2–3)
= (16 + 8 + 0 + 1) + (0.5 + 0 + 0.125) = 27.625
So, (11011.101)2 = (27.625)10

1.4.2 Decimal to Binary Conversion

There are different methods used to convert decimal number to

binary numbers. The most common method is, repeatedly divide
the decimal number to binary number by 2, then the remainders 0’s
and 1’s obtained after division is read in reverse order to obtain the
binary equivalent of the decimal number. This method is called
double-double method.
Example 1.6 : Convert (75)10 to its binary equivalent.
Solution : 2 |75 Remainder
2 |37 LSB 1
2 |18 1
2 |9 0 Read in
2 |4 1 reverse order
2 |2 0
1 MSB 0
So, (75)10 = (001011)2
Example 1.7 : Convert decimal fraction (25.625)10 to its equivalent
binary no.
Solution : 2|25 Remainder MSB 0.625
2 |12 1 ×2
2 |6 0 1.250
2 |3 0 ×2
1 1 0.500
(25)10 = (11001)2 ×2
1.000
(0.625)10 = (0.101)2
So, (25.625)10 = (11001.101)2

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Number Systems Unit 1

1.4.3 Octal to Decimal Conversion

The method of converting octal numbers to decimal numbers is

simple. The decimal equivalent of an octal number is the sum of the
numbers multiplied by their corresponding weights.
Example 1.8 : Find decimal equivalent of octal number (153)8
Solution : 1 × 82 + 1 × 81 + 1 × 80 = 64 + 40 + 3 = 107
So, (153)8 = (107)10
The fractional part can be converted by multiplying it by the
negative powers of 8 as shown in the following example.
Example 1.9 : Find decimal equivalent of octal number (123.21)8
Solution : (1X82 + 2X81 + 3X80 ) + (2 × 8-1 + 1 × 8-2)
= (64 +16 + 3) + (0.25 + 0.0156) = 83.2656
So, (123.21)8 = (83.2656)10

1.4.4 Decimal to Octal Conversion

The procedure for conversion of decimal numbers to octal

numbers is exactly similar to the conversion of decimal number to
binary numbers except replacing 2 by 8.
Example 1.10 : Find the octal equivalent of decimal (3229)10
Solution : Remainders
8 |4121
8 |515 1 read from MSB
8 |64 3 to LSB
8 |8 0
1 0
So, (4121)10=(10031)8
The fractional part is multiplied by 8 to get a carry and a fraction
as shown in the following example.
Example 1.11 : Find the octal equivalent of (.123)10
Solution : Octal equivalent of fractional part of a decimal number
as follows :

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Unit 1 Number Systems

8 × 0.123 = 0.984 0
8 × 0.984 = 7.872 7 read from LSB
8 × 0.872 = 6.976 6 to MSB
8 × 0.976 = 7.808 7
Read the integer to the left of the decimal point.
The calculation can be terminated after a few steps if the
fractional part does not become zero.
The octal equivalent of (0.123)10= (0.0767)8
NOTE : The octal to binary and binary to octal conversion is very
easy. Since, 8 is the third power of 2, we can convert each octal
digit into its three-bit binary form and vice versa.
Example 1.12 : Convert (567)8 to its binary form.
Solution : 5 6 7

101 110 111

So, (567)8 = (101 110 111)2
Conversion from binary to octal is just opposit of the above
example.

1.4.5 Hexadecimal to Decimal Conversion

The method of converting Hexadecimal numbers to decimal

number is simple. The decimal equivalent of an Hexadecimal number
is the sum of the numbers multiplied by their corresponding weights.
Example 1.13 : Find the decimal equivalent of (4A8C)16
Solution :
(4A8C)16 = (4 × 163) + (10 × 162) + (8 × 191) + (12 × 160)
= 16384 + 2560 + 128 + 12
=(19084)10
(4A83)16 = (19084)10
Example 1.14 : Find the decimal equivalent of (53A.0B4)16
Solution :
(53A.0B4)16 = (5 × 162) + (3 × 161) + (10 × 160) + (0 × 16-1)
+ (11 × 16-2) + (4 × 16-3)
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Number Systems Unit 1

= 1280 + 48 + 10 + 0 + 0.04927 + 0.0009765

= (1338.0439)10
(53A.0B4)16 =(1338.0439)10

1.4.6 Decimal to Hexadecimal Conversion

The procedure for conversion from decimal no. and decimal

fraction no. to hexadecimal equivalent is exactly similar to the
conversion of decimal to binary no. except replacing 2 by 16.
Example 1.15 : Convert decimal (1234.675)10 to hexadecimal.
Solution : 1st consider (1234)10
Remainder
Decimal Hexadecimal
16 |1234 2 2
16 |77 13 D
16 |4 4 4
(1234)10 = (4D2)16
Conversion of (0.675)10 :
Decimal Hexadecimal
0.675 × 16 = 10.8 10 A
0.800 × 16 = 12.8 12 C
0.800 × 16 = 12.8 12 C
0.800 × 16 = 12.8 12 C
(0.675)10= (0.ACC)16
Hence (1234.675)10= (4D2.ACC)16
If the decimal number is very large, it is tedious to convert the
number to binary directly. So it is always advisable to convert the
number into hex first, and then convert the hex to binary.

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Unit 1 Number Systems

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q.1. What is the largest numbar that can be represented using 8

bits?
............................................................................................
Q.2. What is the weight of 1 in (10000)2.
............................................................................................
Q.3. Convert the following:
a) (565.25)10 to its equivalent binary number.
b) (256.24)8 to decimal equivalent.
c) (A3B.BB)16 to decimal equivalent.
d) (10010.110)2 to decimal equivalent.
e) (3964.63)10 to octal equivalent.

1.5 COMPLEMENT OF NUMBERS

Complements are used in digital computers for simplifying the

substraction operation and for logical manipulation.The complementof a
binary number is obtained by inverting itsall the bits.
For example, the complement of 10011 is 01100 and 00101 is 11010
etc. The complement again depends on the base of the number.
There are two types of complements for a number of base r. These
are :
 r’s complement and
 (r-1)’s complement,
For example, for decimal numbers the base is 10. Therefore,
complements will be 10’s complement and (10–1)=9’s complement. For
binary numbers, the complement are 2’s complement and 1’s complement
since base is 2.

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Number Systems Unit 1

1.5.1 (r–1)’s Complement

Giiven a number N in base r having n digits, the (r–1)’s

The 7’s and 15’s
complement of N is defined as (rn–1) – N. complement of a number
is found by subtracting
1’s Complement : For binary numbers, r = 2 and (r–1) = 1, so the each digit of the number
1’s complement of N is (2n–1) – N. Again, 2n is represented by a from 7 and 15
binary number that consists of a 1 followed by n 0’s. 2n-1 is a binary respectively.
number represented by n 1’s. For example,with n = 4, we have 24 =
(10000)2 and 24–1 = (1111)2. Thus the 1’s complement of a binary
number is obtained by subtracting each digit from 1.
However, the subtraction of a binary digit from 1causes the bit
to change from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0. Therefore, the 1’s complement
of a binary number is formed by changing 1’s into 0 and 0’s into 1’s.
For example, 1’s complement of 1010111 is 0101000.

1.5.2 r’s Complement

The r’s complement of a n-digit number N in base r is defined as

Like 8’s complement and
rn – N for N =0 and 0 for N = 0. Comparing with the (r–1)’s
16’s complement of a
complement, we note that the r’s complement is obtained by adding number is found by
1 to the (r–1)’s complement. adding 1 to the LSB of
the 7’s and 15’s
complement of an octal
and hexadecimal number
respectively.

Digital Logic 17
Unit 1 Number Systems

2’s Complement : It is obtained by adding 1 in the 1’s complement

form of the binary numbers.
i.e. 2’s complement of binary number = 1’s complement of that
number + 1
For example, 2’s complement of 1010111 is 0101000 + 1 = 0101001

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q.4. Find 9’s complement 10’s complement of decimal numbers

44 and 182.
............................................................................................
............................................................................................
Q.5. Find 1’s complement and 2’s complement of binary numbers
1101001 and 0000.
............................................................................................
............................................................................................

1.6 DATA REPRESENTATION

Data are usually represented by using the alphabets A to Z, numbers

0 to 9 and various other symbols. This form of representation is used to
formulate problem and fed to the Computer. The processed output is required
in the same form. This form of representation is called external data
representation. However, the computer can understand data only in the
form of 0’s and 1’s. The method of data representaion in a form suitable for
storing in the memory and for processing by the CPU is called the internal
data representation on digital computer.
Data, in general, are of two types : Numeric and non-numeric
(Character data). The numeric data deals only with numbers and arithmatic
operations and non numeric data deals with characters, names addresses
etc. and non-arithmatic operations.

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Number Systems Unit 1

1.6.1 Fixed Point Representaion

A fixed point numbers in binary system uses a sign bit. A positive

number has a sign bit 0 while the negative number has a sign bit 1.
A negative number can be represented in one of the following ways.
– Signed magnitude representaion
– Signed 1’s complement representaion
– Signed 2’s complement representaion
Assume that the size of the register is 7 bit and the 8th position
bit in used for error checking and correction or other purposes.
a) Signed magnitude representation
+6 –6
0 000110 1 000110
No change in the
Sign bit Sign bit magnitude, only the
sign bit changes
b) Signed 1’s complement representation
+6 –6
0 000110 1 111001
Here 0 and 1 are sign bits. 1’s complement is getting for the –ve
integer is by taking complement of all the bits of +ve no. including
sign bit.
c) Signed 2’s complement representation
+6 –6
0 000101 1 111011
2’s complement of the
Sign bit Sign bit positive number
including sing bit
The signed magnitude system is easier to interpret but computer
arithmatic with this is not efficient. The circuits for handling numbers
are simplified if 1’s or 2’s complement systems are used and as a
result one of these is almost always adopted.

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Unit 1 Number Systems

Note 1 : In 1’s and 2’s complements, all positive integers are

represented as sign magnitued system.
Note 2 : When all the bits of the computer word are used to represent
the number and no bit is used for signed representation, it is called
unsigned representation of the number.

1.6.2 Floating Point Representation

A number which has both an integer part as well as a fractional

part is called real number or floating point number. A floating point
number is either positive or negative. Examples of real decimal
numbers are 156.65, 0.893, –235.75, –0.253 etc. Examples of binary
real numbers are 101.101, 0.11101, –1011.101, –0.1010 etc.
The first part of the number is a fixed point number which is
called mantissa. It can be an integer or a fraction.
The second part specifies the decimal or binary point position
and is termed exponent. It is not a physical point. Therefore,
whenever we are representing a point and is termed as an exponent.
It is only the assumed position. For example, for decimal o. +15.37,
the typical floating point notaion is :
51.47 = 0.5147 × 102 or 5147 × 10-2
Now, The floating point representation of 0.5147 × 103 is :
Sign Sign

|0 .5147| |0 02|
Mantissa (fraction) Exponent
The floating point representation of 5147 X 10-2 is
Sign Sign

|0 5147| |0 02|
Mantissa (Integer) Exponent
Similarly for example a floating point binary number 1011.1010
can be represnted as : 1011.1010 = 0.10111010 × 24
20 Digital Logic
Number Systems Unit 1

This can be represented in a 16 bit register as follows

Sign Sign

|0 .10111010| |0 000100|
Mantissa (fraction) Exponent
The mantissa occupies 9 bits (1 bit for sign and 8 bits for value)
and the exponent 7 bits (1 bit for sign and 6 bits for value). The
binary point (.) is not physically indicated in the register, but it is only
assumed (position) to be there.
In general form, the floating point numbers is expressed as :
N = M X Re
Where, M – Mantissa
R – Radix (or base)
e – Exponent
The mantissa M and exponent e are physically present in register.
But the radix R and the point (decimal or binary point) are not
indicated in the register. There are only assumed for computation
and manipulation.
Normalized Floating point Number : Floating point numbers are
often represented in normalized forms. A floating point number where
mantissa does not contain zero as the most significant digit of the
number is considered to be in normaliged form. For example,
0.00038695 × 105 and 0.0589 × 10-4 are not normaliged numbers.
But 0.38695 × 102 and 0.589 × 10-5 are normaliged numbers.
Similarly, for binary number also, 0.0011001 × 28 and 0.0001011 ×
2-5 are not non-normaliged binary numbers. But 0.11001 × 26 and
0.1011 × 2-8 are normaliged binary numbers.
A zero cannot be normaliged as all the digits in the mantissa is
zero.
Arithmatic operations involved with floating point numbers are
more complex. It takes larger time for execution and requires
complex hardware. But floating point representaion is frequently used
in scientific calculations.
Digital Logic 21
Unit 1 Number Systems

Overflow and Underflow : When the result is too small to be

presented by the computer, an overflow or underflow condition exists.
When two floating-point numbers of the same sign are added, a
carry may be generated out of high-order bit position. This is known
as mantissa overflow. In case of addition or subtraction floating point
numbers are aligned. The mantissa is shifted right for the alignment
of a floating point number. Sometimes, the low order bits are lost in
the process of alignment. This is referred as mantissa underflow. To
perform the multiplication of two floating point numbers, the
exponents are added. In certain cases the sum of the exponents
maybe too large and it may exceed the storing capacity of the
exponent field. This is called exponent overflow. In case of division
the exponent of the divisior is subtracted from the exponent of the
dividend. The result of subtraction may be too small to be
represented. This is called exponent underflow.
Overflow or underflow resulting from a mantissa operation can
be corrected by shifting the mantissa of the result and adjusting the
exponent. But the exponent overflow or underflow can not be
corrected and hence, an error indication has to be displayed on the
computer screen.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q.6. Represent 10 by the following fixed point representation

method.
a) Signed magnitude representation.
b) Signed 1’s complement representation.
c) Signed 2’s complement representation.
Q.7. Represent (1010.1010)2 with floating point representation
method.
............................................................................................

22 Digital Logic
Number Systems Unit 1

1.7 BINARY ARITHMATIC

1.7.1 Addition

Binary addition is performed in the same manner as decimal

addition. Since, in binary system only two digit 0s and 1s are used,
the addition will be like–
0+0=0
0 + 1 = 1 = 1+0
1 + 1 = 0, Carry 1 to the next left column
1 + 1 +1 = 1, Carry 1 to the next column.
Carry overs are performed in the same manner as in decimal
arithmetic.
Example 1.16 : Add the binary numbers
(i) 1011 and 1001
(ii) 10.011 and 1.001
Solution :
(i) Binary no. Equivalent decimal no.
11 carry
1011 11
+1001 9
10100 20
(ii) 10.011 2.375
1.001 1.125
11.100 3.500
Since the circuit in all digital systems actually can handle two
numbers to performs addition, it is not necessary to consider the
addition of more than two binary numbers. When more than two
numbers to be added, the first two are added first and then their
sum is added to the third and so on.
The complexity may rise when to add combination of positive
and negative binary number. In this case the arithmatic addition is
dependent on the representation of

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Unit 1 Number Systems

a) Signed magnitude
b) Signed 1’s complement
c) Signed 2’s complement
This will be more clear if we discuss through the following
example:
Example 1.17 : Add 25 and -30 in binary using 7 bit register in
signed magnitude representation
a) Signed 1’s complement representaion
b) Signed 2’s complement representaion
Solution : Here, 25 is + 25 = 0011001 in binary system
–30 = 1011110 in binary system
To do the arithmatic addition with one negative number we have
to check the magnitude of the numbers. The number having smaller
magnitude is there subtracted from the bigger number and the sign
of bigger number is selected. To implement such a scheme in digits,
hardware will require a long sequence of control decisions as well
as circuits that will add, compare and subtract numbers. The better
attentative of arithmatic with one negative number is signed 2’s
complement.
In signed 2’s complement representation :
We get that +30 is 0 011110
–30 is 1 011110
Now, 2’s complement of –30 (including sign bit) 1 100010
+25 is 0 011001
Addition
+25 0 011 001
–30 1 100 010
–05 1 111 011 (Just add the numbers)
The result for negative number will store n signed 2’s complement
form. So the above result in signed 2’s complement form. So the
above result in signed 2’s complemnt form including sign bit is
1 000 100 +1 = 1 000 101
Which is -05 in decimal system.
24 Digital Logic
Number Systems Unit 1

From the above example it is noticed that, signed 2’s complement

representation is simpler than signed magnitude representaion. This
procedure requires only one central decision and only one circuit
for adding the two numbers. But it puts additional condition that the
negative numbers should be stored in signed 2’s complment form
in the register. This can be achieved by complementing the positive
number bit by bit then incrementing the resultant by 1 to get signed
2’s complement.
In signed 1’s complement representation : This method is also
simple. The rule is taht, add the two numbers including the sign bit. If
carry of the most significant bit or sign bit is one, then increment the
result by 1 and discard the carry over.
Addition :
+25 = 0 011 001
–30 = 1 100 001 (1’s complement of -30)
–5 = 1 111 010
The result will store in 1’s complement format. So, 1111 010 in
1’s complement format including the sign bit is 1 000 101 which is
the required result.
Example 1.18 : Add -25 and +30 using 7-bit register.
Solution :
–25 1 100 110 (1’s complement of 25)
+30 0 011 110
+5 10 000 100

Carry bit, so add 1 to the sum and discard the carry.

This sum is now = 0 000 101 which is +5
Example 1.19 : Add –25 and –30 using 7-bit register.
Solution : –25 1 100 110 (1’s complement of 25)
–30 1 100 001 (1’s complement of 30)
–55 1 1 000 111

Carry bit, so add 1 to sum and discard the carry.

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Unit 1 Number Systems

Now the sum is = 1 001 000, which is –55

Since, +55 is 0 110 111
So, –55 is in 1’s complement 1 001 000
The interesting feature about these representation is the
representation of 0 in signed magnitude and 1’s complement. There
are two representation for zero are :
Signed magnitude +0 –0
0 000000 1 000000
Signed 1’s complement 0 000000 1 111111
But in signed 2’s complement, there is just one zero and there
are no positive or negative zero.
+0 000000
–0 in 2’s complement is +0 = 1 111111
1
1 0 000000

discard this carry

Thus, both +0 and –0 are same in 2’s complement notaton. This
is an added advantage in favour of 2’s complement notation. The
maximum number which can be accomodated in registers also
depends on the type of representation. In general, in a 8 bit register
1 bit is used as sign. Therefore, the rest of 7 bit are used for
representing the value. The value of maximum and minumum
number which can be represented are :
For signed magnitude representation 27 –1 to –(27–1)
= 128 –1 to – (128–1)
= 127 to – 127,
which is for signed 1’s complement representation. For signed
2’s complement representation is from + 127 to –128. The –128 is
represented in signed 2’s complement notation as 10000000.

26 Digital Logic
Number Systems Unit 1

1.7.2 Subtraction

Though there are other method of performing subtraction, we

will consider the method of subtraction known as complementary
subtracton. This is a more efficient method of subtraction while using
electronics circuits.The following three steps have to follow to subtract
binary numbers.
In 1’s complement method :
1. Find the 1’s complement of the number which is subtracting.
2. Add the number which is subtracting from with the
complement value obtained from step 1.
3. If there is a carry of 1, add the carry with the result of add-
ition. Else, take complement again of the result and attach a
negative sign with the result.
Example 1.20 : Subtract 5 – 6 by 1’s complement method.
Solution : 5 Binary equivalent is 101
6 Binary equivalent is 110
Step 1 : 1’s complement of 6 is 001
Step 2 : Adding 001 with 101 give the result as
001
+ 101
110
Step 3 : Since there is no carry in step 2, we take the complement
again which will be 001 and after attaching negative sign the required
result will be –001 which is -1.
In 2’s complement method : It is same as 1’s complement method
except the step 3. The steps are :
Step 1 : Find the 2’s complement of the number which is
subtracting.
Step 2 : Add the number which is subtracting from with the comple
ment value obtained from step 1.
Step 3 : If there is a carry of 1, Ignore it. Else, take 2’s complement
of the result again and attach a negative sign with the result.

Digital Logic 27
Unit 1 Number Systems

Example 1.21 : Subtract 5 – 7 by 2’s complement method.

Solution : 5 Binary equivalent is 101
7 Binary equivalent is 111
Step 1 : The 2’s complement of 7 is 000 + 1 = 001
Step 2 : Adding 001 with 101 will give result as :
001
101
110 (No carry)
Step 3 : Since no carry, the 2’s complement of 110 is 001 + 1 =
010 and attaching a negative sign the required result is –10.

Overflow : An overflow is said to have occured when the sum of

two n digits number occupies (n+1) digits. This definition is valid for
both binary as well as decimal digits. But what is the significance of
overflow for binary numbers since it is not a problem for the cases
when we add two numbers? Well, the answer lies in the limits or
representation of numbers. Every computer employs a limit for
representation number eg. in our examples we are using 8 bit
registers of calculating the sum. But what will happen if the sum of
the two numbers can be accommodated in 9 bits? Where are we
going to store the 9th bit? The problem will be more clear by the
following example. In case of a +ve no. added to a –ve no., the sum
of result will always be smaller than the two numbers. An overflow
always occurs when the added nos. are both +ve or both -ve.
Example 1.22 : Add the numbers 65 and 75 in 8 bit register in
signed 2’s complement notation.
Solution : 65 0 1000001
75 0 1001011
140 1 0001100
This is a -ve number and the 2’s complement of teh result is
equal to -115 which obvious is a wrong result. This has occured
because of overflow.
Detection of Overflow : Overflow can be detected as :
28 Digital Logic
Number Systems Unit 1

If the carry out of the MSBs of number (or, carry into the sign bit)
is equal to the carry out of the sign bit then overflow must have
occured. For example
–65 1 0111111 –65 1 0111111
–15 1 1110001 –75 1 0110101
–80 11 0110000 –140 10 1110100
Carry =1 Carry = 10
Carry from MSB =1 Carry from MSB =0
Carry from sign bit = 1 Carry from sign bit = 1
Sign bit is =1 Sign bit is =0
No overflow Therefore, overflow
Thus, overflow has occured, i.e. the arithmatic results so
calculated have exceeded the capacity of the representation. This
overflow also implies that the calculated results might be erronous.

Digital Logic 29
Number Systems Unit 1

1.8 COMPUTER CODES

A code is a symbol or group of symbols that represents discrete

elements. Coding of characters has been standardised to enable transfer
of data between computers. Numeric data is not the only form of data handled
by a computer. We often require to process alphanumeric data also. An
alphanumeric data is a string of symbols, where a symbol may be one of
the letters A, B, C, ...., Z, or one of the digits 0, 1, 2, ...., 9, or a special
character, such as + – */, . () = (space for blank)etc. However, the bits 0 and
1 must represent any data internally. Hence, computers use binary coding
schemes to represent data internally. In binary coding, a group of bits
represent every symbol that appears in the data. The group of bits used to
represent a symbol is called a byte. To indicate the numbers of bits in a
group, sometimes a byte is referred to as “n-bit byte”, where the group
contains n bits. However, the term “byte” commonly means an 8-bit byte
because most modern computers use 8 bits to represent a symbol.

1.8.1 BCD

In computing and electronic systems, Binary-Coded Decimal

(BCD) is a way to express each of the decimal digits with a binary
code. Its main virtue is that it allows easy conversion to decimal
digits for printing or display and faster decimal calculations. Decimal
numbers with their BCD equivalent are given in the table 2.4 :
Table 2.4 : BCD Code
Decimal BCD
0 0000
1 0001
2 0010
Digital Logic 31
Unit 1 Number Systems

3 0011
4 0100
5 0101
6 0110
7 0111
8 1000
9 1001
Unlike binary encoded numbers, BCD encoded numbers can
easily be displayed by mapping each of the nibbles(4-bits) to a
different character. Conversion of decimal to BCD and BCD to
decimal are shown below:
Example 1.24 : Convert the decimal numbers 47 and 180 to BCD.
Solution : 4 = 0100 and 7 = 111
47 = 0100111
Similarly, 180=0001 1000 0000
Example 1.25 : Convert each of the BCD code 1000111 to decimal.
Solution : First we have to divide the whole BCD code by a set of 4-
bits from right to left. Then from left to right we can put the
corresponding decimal numbers.
0100 0111
4 7
Thus, 1000111(in BCD) = 47 (in Decimal)
BCD addition : BCD is a numeric code and can be used in arithmetic
operations. Addition is the most important operation because the
other three operations (subtraction, multiplication, and division) can
be accomplished by the use of addition. Here is how to add two
BCD numbers:
Step1 : Add the two BCD numbers, using the rules for binary
addition.
Step 2 : If a 4-bit sum is equal to or less than 9, it is a valid BCD
number.
Step 3 : If a 4-bit sum is greater than 9, or if a carry out of the 4-bit
group is generated, it is an invalid result. Add 6(0110) to
32 Digital Logic
Number Systems Unit 1

the 4-bit sum in order to skip the six invalid states and
return the code to 8421. If a carry results when 6 is added,
simply add the carry to the next 4-bit group.
Example 1.26 : Add the following BCD numbers :
a) 0001 + 0100
b) 10000111 + 01010011
Solution : The decimal number addition are shown for comparison.
(a) 0001 1
+0100 +4
0101 5
 0001 + 0100 = 0101 Which is valid BCD no. (Value < 9)
(b) 1000 0111 87
+0101 0011 + 53
1101 1010 Both groups are invalid (>9) +140
+0110 +0110 Add 6 (i.e.,0110) to both groups
0001 0100 0000 Valid BCD number which is 140
in decimal.

Digital Logic 33