Manarat Dhaka International School & College
LQA (Hand Notes)
Class:7 Subject: Computer Studies
Chapter: Number System
What is Digital Number System?
DIGITAL NUMBER SYSTEM
A digital system can understand positional number system only where there are a few symbols
called digits and these symbols represent different values depending on the position they occupy
in the number.
A value of each digit in a number can be determined using
• The digit
• The position of the digit in the number
• The base of the number system (where base is defined as the total number of digits available
in the number system).
As a computer programmer or an IT professional, you should understand the following number
systems which are frequently used in computers.
S.N. Number System & Description
1. Binary Number System
Base 2. Digits used: 0, 1
2. Decimal/Denary Number System
Base 10. Digits used: 0 to 9
3. Hexadecimal Number System
Base 16. Digits used: 0 to 9, Letters used: A- F
Characteristics of Different Number System:
Binary Number System
Characteristics:
• Uses two digits, 0 and 1.
• Also called base 2 number system
• Each position in a binary number represents a 0 power of the base (2). Example: 2 0
• Last position in a binary number represents an x power of the base (2). Example: 2 x where
x represents the last position - 1.
Example:
Binary Number: 101012
Decimal/Denary Number System
Characteristics:
• Uses 10 digits, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
• Also called base-10 number system
• Each position in a denary number represents a power of the base (10). Example: 100
• Last position in a denary number represents an x power of the base (10). Example: 10x
where x represents the last position ─ 1.
Example:
Denary Number: 532410
Hexadecimal Number System
Characteristics:
• Uses 10 digits and 6 letters, 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F.
• Letters represents numbers starting from 10. A = 10, B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, F =
15.
• Also called base-16 number system.
• Each position in a hexadecimal number represents a 0 power of the base (16). Example 16 0.
• Last position in a hexadecimal number represents an x power of the base (16). Example 16 x
where x represents the last position−1.
Example:
Hexadecimal Number: 19FDE16
Note: 19FDE16 is normally written as 19FDE.
NUMBER SYSTEM CONVERSION
There are many methods or techniques which can be used to convert numbers from one
base to another. We'll demonstrate here the following −
• Decimal to Other Base System
• Other Base System to Decimal
• Hexadecimal to Binary
• Binary to Hexadecimal
Decimal to Other Base System
Steps
• Step 1 − Divide the decimal number to be converted by the value of the new base.
• Step 2 − Get the remainder from Step 1 as the rightmost digit (least significant digit) of new
base number.
• Step 3 − Divide the quotient of the previous divide by the new 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, getting remainders from right to left, until the quotient becomes
zero in Step 3.
The last remainder thus obtained will be the Most Significant Digit (MSD) of the new
base number.
Example −
Decimal Number: 2910
Calculating Binary Equivalent −
Step Operation Result Remainder
Step 1 29 / 2 14 1
Step 2 14 / 2 7 0
Step 3 7/2 3 1
Step 4 3/2 1 1
Step 5 1/2 0 1
As mentioned in Steps 2 and 4, the remainders have to be arranged in the reverse order
so that the first remainder becomes the Least Significant Digit (LSD) and the last
remainder becomes the Most Significant Digit (MSD).
Decimal Number − 2910 = Binary Number − 111012.
Other Base System to Decimal System
Steps
• Step 1 − Determine the column (positional) value of each digit (this depends on the position
of the digit and the base of the number system).
• Step 2 − Multiply the obtained column values (in Step 1) by the digits in the corresponding
columns.
• Step 3 − Sum the products calculated in Step 2. The total is the equivalent value in decimal.
Example
Binary Number − 111012
Calculating Decimal Equivalent –
Step Binary Number Decimal Number
Step 1 111012 ((1 × 24) + (1 × 23) + (1 × 22) + (0 × 21) + (1 × 20))10
Step 2 111012 (16 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 1)10
Step 3 111012 2910
Binary Number − 111012 = Decimal Number − 2910
Hexadecimal to Decimal:
Calculating Decimal Equivalent
Step Hexadecimal Number Decimal Number
Step 1 19FDE16 ((1 × 164) + (9 × 163) + (F × 162) + (D × 161) + (E × 160))10
Step 2 19FDE16 ((1 × 164) + (9 × 163) + (15 × 162) + (13 × 161) + (14 × 160))10
Step 3 19FDE16 (65536 + 36864 + 3840 + 208 + 14)10
Step 4 19FDE16 10646210
Hexadecimal Number, 19FDE16 = Decimal Number, 10646210
Binary to Hexadecimal:
These are following steps to convert a binary number into hexadecimal number.
• Take binary number
• Divide the binary digits into groups of four (starting from right).
• Convert each group of four binary digits to one hexadecimal digit.
. Therefore, Binary to hexadecimal is,
= (1010101101001)2
= (1 0101 0110 1001)2
= (0001 0101 0110 1001)2
= (1 5 6 9)16
= (1569)16
Hexadecimal to Binary:
Step 1: Divide the given hexadecimal number into individual digits.
Step 2: Assign binary equivalents to each hexadecimal digit. It’s important to
keep track of leading zeros when converting hexadecimal to binary to
maintain the correct number of digits.
Step 3: Replace each hexadecimal digit with its binary equivalent using the
conversion table.
Example: Let’s convert the hexadecimal number “2A” to binary:
“2” in hexadecimal is equivalent to “0010” in binary.
“A” in hexadecimal is equivalent to “1010” in binary.
Therefore, “2A” in hexadecimal is equivalent to “00101010” in binary.
Examples for practice:
1. Convert the following denary numbers into binary.
a. 134
b. 201
2. Convert the following binary numbers into denary.
a. 110101012
b. 010111012
3. Convert the following hexadecimal numbers into binary
a. A45216
b. 95CF16
4. Convert the following denary numbers into hexadecimal.
a. 68910
b. 35210
5. Convert the following binary numbers into hexadecimal.
a. 110101012
b. 100101012
6. Convert the following hexadecimal numbers into binary
a. 6B216
b. 39C816
