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Base Two Counting

"Binary" means two.

Binary counting would be like having humans with one finger and one hand. The finger is either up, or down.

Binary is not a very convenient way of counting for people, but it is great for machines that only operate in two states - OFF, or ON. Such devices are called "binary", or "digital" devices. Computers are binary devices. For the examples below, an ON condition will be represented by a yellow light globe and an OFF condition by a darkened light globe.

a "1" is used to represent ON, or "HIGH"
a "0" is used to represent OFF, or "LOW"

Rather than use hands and fingers as in the previous screens we will use a string of globes to represent binary counting. For convenience, a set of eight light globes will be used ...

eight light globes

This pattern of light globes represents the binary number      0  0  1  0  1  0  1  1

Binary counting digits follow the same pattern as all counting digits.
The value of each "place" is TWICE the value of the place on the right.

The eight places indicated by the globes above are: 128  64   32  16  8  4  2  1
The same pattern of "powers" applies ...

pattern of powers

Decimal 0

The 'places' (or "Data Lines") from right to left are known as: D7, D6, D5, D4, D3, D2, D1, D0.
The digit on the right (D0) is called the "Least Significant Bit" (LSB).
The digit on the left (D7) is called the "Most Significant Bit" (MSB).

Consider the following examples ...

200 Decimal
1  1  0  0  1  0  0  0
= 128 + 64 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 200 Decimal


78 Decimal
0  1  0  0  1  1  1  0
= 0 + 64 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 78 Decimal

Binary Conversion Table

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Converting Binary to Decimal

Binary Number Place Values Decimal
00001010    0 +   0 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 2 + 0 10
11001101 128 + 64 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 205
10000001 128 +   0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 1 129
00000010    0 +   0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 0 2

Try these ...

1. Draw the light globe ON/OFF pattern for binary 10100010  Click here for the answer

2. What is the Decimal value of binary 11000001?                 Click here for the answer

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1. Draw the light globe ON/OFF pattern for binary 10100010

quiz #1

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2. What is the Decimal value of binary 11000001?  11000001 = 128 + 64 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 193

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