Binary Number System

A Binary Number is made up of only 0s and 1s.

110100
Example of a Binary Number
There is no 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or 9 in Binary!

How do we Count using Binary?

Binary
0
1
???

We start at 0
Then 1
But then there is no symbol for 2 ... what do we do?

Decimal
0
Well how do we count
in Decimal?
...
9
10

Start at 0
Count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and then...
This is the last digit in Decimal
So we start back at 0 again, but add 1 on the left

The same thing is done in binary ...

Binary
0
1
10
11
???

Start at 0
Then 1
Now start back at 0 again, but add 1 on the left
1 more
But NOW what ... ?

What happens in Decimal ...

?

Decimal
99
100

When we run out of digits, we ...

... start back at 0 again, but add 1 on the
left

And that is what we do in binary ...

Binary
0
1
10
11
100

101
110
111
1000

1001

Start at 0
Then 1
Start back at 0 again, but add 1 on the left
start back at 0 again, and add one to the number on the left...
... but that number is already at 1 so it also goes back to 0 ...
... and 1 is added to the next position on the left

Start back at 0 again (for all 3 digits),

add 1 on the left
And so on!

0
128 = 2

0
64 = 2

32 = 2

16 = 2

0
0
0
8=2

4=2

2=2

1=2

0
0
0

Decimal vs Binary
Here are some equivalent values:

Decimal: 0 1 2 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Binary: 0 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1101 1110 1111

Here are some larger equivalent values:

Decimal:
20
25
30
40
50
100
200
500
Binary: 10100 11001 11110 101000 110010 1100100 11001000 111110100

"Binary is as easy as 1, 10, 11."

Now see how you can use Binary to count past 1,000 on your fingers:

Activity: Binary Fingers

Position
In the Decimal System there are the Units, Tens, Hundreds, etc
In Binary, there are Units, Twos, Fours, etc, like this:

This is 18 + 14 + 02 + 1 + 1(1/2) + 0(1/4) + 1(1/8)

= 13.625 in Decimal

Numbers can be placed to the left or right of the point, to show values greater than one and
less than one.

10.1
The number to the left of the point is a whole number
(such as 10)

As we move further left, every number place

gets 2 times bigger.

The first digit on the right means halves (1/2).

As we move further right, every number place

gets 2 times smaller (half as big).

Example: 10.1

The "10" means 2 in decimal,

The ".1" means half,

So "10.1" in binary is 2.5 in decimal

You can do conversions at Binary to Decimal to Hexadecimal Converter.

Words
The word binary comes from "Bi-" meaning two. We see "bi-" in words such as "bicycle"
(two wheels) or "binocular" (two eyes).
When you say a binary number, pronounce each digit (example, the binary
number "101" is spoken as "one zero one", or sometimes "one-oh-one"). This way
people don't get confused with the decimal number.
A single binary digit (like "0" or "1") is called a "bit".
For example 11010 is five bits long.
The word bit is made up from the words "binary digit"

How to Show that a Number is Binary

To show that a number is a binary number, follow it with a little 2 like this: 1012
This way people won't think it is the decimal number "101" (one hundred and one).

Examples
Example: What is 11112 in Decimal?

The "1" on the left is in the "222" position, so that means 1222 (=8)

The next "1" is in the "22" position, so that means 122 (=4)

The next "1" is in the "2" position, so that means 12 (=2)

The last "1" is in the units position, so that means 1

Answer: 1111 = 8+4+2+1 = 15 in Decimal

Example: What is 10012 in Decimal?

The "1" on the left is in the "222" position, so that means 1222 (=8)

The "0" is in the "22" position, so that means 022 (=0)

The next "0" is in the "2" position, so that means 02 (=0)

The last "1" is in the units position, so that means 1

Answer: 1001 = 8+0+0+1 = 9 in Decimal

Example: What is 1.12 in Decimal?

The "1" on the left side is in the units position, so that means 1.

The 1 on the right side is in the "halves" position, so that means 1(1/2)

So, 1.1 is "1 and 1 half" = 1.5 in Decimal

Example: What is 10.112 in Decimal?

The "1" is in the "2" position, so that means 12 (=2)

The "0" is in the units position, so that means 0

The "1" on the right of the point is in the "halves" position, so that means 1(1/2)

The last "1" on the right side is in the "quarters" position, so that means 1(1/4)

So, 10.11 is 2+0+1/2+1/4 = 2.75 in Decimal