Number Systems
Number systems A number is a mathematical value used for counting and
measuring objects, and for performing arithmetic calculations. Numbers have
various categories like
Natural numbers, 1,2,3,4,….
whole numbers, 0,1,2,3,4,…
rational and irrational numbers, and so on.
Types of Number System
There are various types of number systems in mathematics. The four most
common number system types are:
1. Decimal number system (Base- 10)
2. Binary number system (Base- 2)
3. Octal number system (Base-8)
4. Hexadecimal number system (Base- 16)
Decimal Number System (Base 10 Number System)
The decimal number system has a base of 10 because it uses ten digits from 0 to
9.
Example of The decimal number 1457 consists of the digit 7 in the unit’s position, 5
in the tens place, 4 in the hundreds position and 1 in the thousands place whose
value can be written as:
(1×103) + (4×102) + (5×101) + (7×100)
(1×1000) + (4×100) + (5×10) + (7×1)
1000 + 400 + 50 + 7
1457
Binary Number System (Base 2 Number System)
The binary number system uses only two digits: 0 and 1. The numbers in this
system have a base of 2. Digits 0 and 1 are called bits and 8 bits together make a
byte. The data in computers is stored in terms of bits and bytes. For example:
100012, 1111012, 10101012 are some examples of numbers in the binary number
system.
We can convert any system into binary and vice versa.
Example
Write (14)10 as a binary number.
Solution:
Base 2 Number System Example
∴ (14)10 = 11102
Octal Number System (Base 8 Number System)
The octal number system uses eight digits: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 with the base of 8.
Digits like 8 and 9 are not included in the octal number system. Just as the binary,
the octal number system is used in minicomputers but with digits from 0 to 7. For
example: 358, 238, 1418 are some examples of numbers in the octal number system.
Example: Convert 2158 into decimal.
Solution:
2158 = 2 × 82 + 1 × 81 + 5 × 80
= 2 × 64 + 1 × 8 + 5 × 1
= 128 + 8 + 5
= 14110
Hexadecimal Number System (Base 16 Number System)
The hexadecimal number system uses sixteen digits/alphabets: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
and A,B,C,D,E,F with the base number as 16. Here, A-F of the hexadecimal system
means the numbers 10-15 of the decimal number system respectively
. For example, 7B316, 6F16, 4B2A16 are some examples of numbers in the
hexadecimal number system.
Hexadecimal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
Decimal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Number System Chart
Given below is a chart of the main four types of number system that we use to
represent numbers.
A. Decimal to Binary Conversion:
1. (42)10 = ( ? )2 2. (89.625)10 = ( ? )2
Solution: Solution:
(42)10= ()
̲ 2 (89.625)10= ()
̲ 2
2 42
2 21 0 ↑ 2 89
2 10 1 ↑ 2 44 1 ↑
2 5 0 ↑ 2 22 0 ↑
2 2 1 ↑ 2 11 0 ↑
2 5 1 ↑
2 1 0 ↑
2 2 1 ↑
0 1 ↑
2 1 0 ↑
1
0
∴(42)10= ( ) 101010̲ 2
0.625 × 2 = 1.250 ⇒1 ↓
0.250 × 2 = 0.500 ⇒0 ↓
0.500 × 2 = 1.0 ⇒1 ↓
∴(89.625)10= ( 1011001.101̲ ) 2
. Decimal to Octal Conversion
C. Decimal to Hexadecimal Conversion:
Examples (6260)10 = ( ? )8
Solution:
1. (425)10 = (
Solution:
? )8
(6260)10= () ̲ 8
(425)10= ()
̲ 8 8 6260
8 782 4 ↑
8 97 6 ↑
8 425
8 12 1 ↑
8 53 1 ↑
8 1 4 ↑
8 6 5 ↑
0 1 ↑
0 6 ↑
∴(425)10= ( ) 651̲ 8
∴(6260)10= ( ) 14164̲ 8
(1423)10 = ( ? )16 (93419)10 = ( ? )16
Solution: Solution:
(1423)10= () ̲ 16 (93419)10= ()
̲ 16
16 1423 16 93419
16 88 F ↑ 16 5838 B ↑
16 5 8 ↑ 16 364 E ↑
0 5 ↑ 16 22 C ↑
16 1 6 ↑
0 1 ↑
∴(1423)10=( )58F̲ 16
∴(93419)10= ( )
16CEB̲ 16
Steps for Conversion of Binary to Decimal Number System
100111 = (1 × 25) + (0 × 24) + (0 × 23) + (1 × 22) + (1 × 21) + (1 × 20)
= (1 × 32) + (0 × 16) + (0 × 8) + (1 × 4) + (1 × 2) + (1 × 1)
= 32 + 0 + 0 + 4 + 2 + 1
= 39
Thus, 1001112 = 3910.
Example 2: To convert (11101011)2 into a decimal number
(10101)2 = ( ? )10 (110101001)2 = ( ? )10
Solution: Solution:
(10101)2= () ̲ 10 (110101001)2= () ̲ 10
10101 110101001
=1×24+0×23+1×22+0×21+1 =1×28+1×27+0×26+1×25+0×24+1×23+0×22+0×21+
×20 1×20
=1×16+0×8+1×4+0×2+1×1 =1×256+1×128+0×64+1×32+0×16+1×8+0×4+0×2
+1×1
=21
=425
∴(10101)2= () 21̲ 10
∴(110101001)2= ( ) 425̲ 10
Steps for Conversion of Binary to Octal Number System
For example: Convert the binary number (01110101)2 to an octal number.
Solution: Using the grouping method, set the binary number into three numbers
in each group.
(01110101)2 = 001 110 101 = 1 6 5
(01110101)2= (165)8