computer can only understand 0 and 1, the data must be represented in the computer in 0s and 1s.

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce you to the data representation in the computer.

5.1 INTRODUCTION

The data stored in the computer may be of different kinds, as follows—

 Numeric data (0, 1, 2, …, 9)

 Alphabetic data (A, B, C, …, Z)
 Alphanumeric data—Combination of any of the symbols—(A, B, C… Z), (0, 1… 9), or
special characters (+,−, Blank), etc.

All kinds of data, be it alphabets, numbers, symbols, sound data or video data, is represented in
terms of 0s and 1s, in the computer. Each symbol is represented as a unique combination of 0s
and 1s.

This chapter discusses the number systems that are commonly used in the computer. The number
systems discussed in this chapter are—(1) Decimal number system, (2) Binary number system,
(3) Octal number system, and (4) Hexadecimal number system. The number conversions
described in this chapter are—

 Decimal (Integer, Fraction, [Link]) to Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal

 Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal (Integer, Fraction, [Link]) to Decimal
 Binary to Octal, Hexadecimal
 Octal, Hexadecimal to Binary

The chapter also discusses the binary arithmetic operations and the representation of signed and
unsigned numbers in the computer. The representation of numbers using binary coding schemes
and the logic gates used for the manipulation of data are also discussed.

5.2 NUMBER SYSTEM

A number system in base r or radix r uses unique symbols for r digits. One or more digits are
combined to get a number. The base of the number decides the valid digits that are used to make
a number. In a number, the position of digit starts from the right-hand side of the number. The
rightmost digit has position 0, the next digit on its left has position 1, and so on. The digits of a
number have two kinds of values—

 Face value, and

 Position value.

The face value of a digit is the digit located at that position. For example, in decimal number 52,
face value at position 0 is 2 and face value at position 1 is 5.

The position value of a digit is (baseposition). For example, in decimal number 52, the position
value of digit 2 is 100 and the position value of digit 5 is 101. Decimal numbers have a base of 10.
The number is calculated as the sum of, face value * baseposition, of each of the digits. For
decimal number 52, the number is 5*101 + 2*100 = 50 + 2 = 52

In computers, we are concerned with four kinds of number systems, as follows—

 Decimal Number System —Base 10

 Binary Number System —Base 2
 Octal Number System —Base 8
 Hexadecimal Number System—Base 16

The numbers given as input to computer and the numbers given as output from the computer, are
generally in decimal number system, and are most easily understood by humans. However,
computer understands the binary number system, i.e., numbers in terms of 0s and 1s. The binary
data is also represented, internally, as octal numbers and hexadecimal numbers due to their ease
of use.

A number in a particular base is written as (number)base of number For example, (23)10 means that
the number 23 is a decimal number, and (345)8 shows that 345 is an octal number.

5.2.1 Decimal Number System

 It consists of 10 digits—0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

 All numbers in this number system are represented as combination of digits 0—9. For
example, 34, 5965 and 867321.
 The position value and quantity of a digit at different positions in a number are as
follows—

5.2.2 Binary Number System

 The binary number system consists of two digits—0 and 1.

 All binary numbers are formed using combination of 0 and 1. For example, 1001,
11000011 and 10110101.
 The position value and quantity of a digit at different positions in a number are as
follows—

5.2.3 Octal Number System

 The octal number system consists of eight digits—0 to 7.

 All octal numbers are represented using these eight digits. For example, 273, 103, 2375,
etc.
  The position value and quantity of a digit at different positions in a number are as
follows—

5.2.4 Hexadecimal Number System

 The hexadecimal number system consists of sixteen digits—0 to 9, A, B, C, D, E, F,

where (A is for 10, B is for 11, C-12, D-13, E-14, F-15).
 All hexadecimal numbers are represented using these 16 digits. For example, 3FA, 87B,
113, etc.
 The position value and quantity of a digit at different positions in a number are as
follows—

Table 5.1 summarizes the base, digits and largest digit for the above discussed number systems.
Table 5.2 shows the binary, octal and hexadecimal equivalents of the decimal numbers 0–16.

Table 5.1 Summary of number system

Table 5.2 Decimal, binary, octal and hexadecimal equivalents

5.3 CONVERSION FROM DECIMAL TO BINARY, OCTAL, HEXADECIMAL

A decimal number has two parts—integer part and fraction part. For example, in the decimal
number 23.0786, 23 is the integer part and .0786 is the fraction part. The method used for the
conversion of the integer part of a decimal number is different from the one used for the fraction
part. In the following subsections, we shall discuss the conversion of decimal integer, decimal
fraction and decimal [Link] number into binary, octal and hexadecimal number.

5.3.1 Converting Decimal Integer to Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal

A decimal integer is converted to any other base, by using the division operation.

To convert a decimal integer to—

 binary-divide by 2,
 octal-divide by 8, and,
 hexadecimal-divide by 16.

Let us now understand this conversion with the help of some examples.

Example 1: Convert 25 from Base 10 to Base 2.

 1. Make a table as shown below. Write the number in centre and toBase on the left side.

to Base Number Remainder

(Quotient)
2 25

2. Divide the number with toBase. After each division, write the remainder on right-side
column and quotient in the next line in the middle column. Continue dividing till the
quotient is 0.

to Base Number Remainder

(Quotient)
2 25
2 12 1
2 6 0
2 3 0
2 1 1
0 1

3. Write the digits in remainder column starting from downwards to upwards,

The binary equivalent of number (25)10 is (11001)2

The steps shown above are followed to convert a decimal integer to a number in any other base.

Example 2: Convert 23 from Base 10 to Base 2, 8, 16.

Example 3: Convert 147 from Base 10 to Base 2, 8 and 16.

Example 4: Convert 94 from Base 10 to Base 2, 8 and 16.

5.3.2 Converting Decimal Fraction to Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal

A fractional number is a number less than 1. It may be .5, .00453, .564, etc. We use the
multiplication operation to convert decimal fraction to any other base.

To convert a decimal fraction to—

 binary-multiply by 2,
 octal-multiply by 8, and,
 hexadecimal-multiply by 16.

Steps for conversion of a decimal fraction to any other base are—

1. Multiply the fractional number with the to Base, to get a resulting number.
2. The resulting number has two parts, non-fractional part and fractional part.
3. Record the non-fractional part of the resulting number.
4. Repeat the above steps at least four times.
5. Write the digits in the non-fractional part starting from upwards to downwards.

Example 5: Convert 0.2345 from Base 10 to Base 2.

The binary equivalent of (0.2345)10 is (0.001111)2

Example 5a: Convert 0.865 from Base 10 to Base 2,8 and 16.

5.3.3 Converting Decimal [Link] to Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal

A decimal [Link] number has both integer part and fraction part. The steps for
conversion of a decimal [Link] to any other base are—

1. Convert decimal integer part to the desired base following the steps shown in section
5.3.1.
2. Convert decimal fraction part to the desired base following the steps shown in section
5.3.2.
3. The integer and fraction part in the desired base is combined to get [Link].

Example 6: Convert 34.4674 from Base 10 to Base 2.

Example 7: Convert 34.4674 from Base 10 to Base 8.

Example 8: Convert 34.4674 from Base 10 to Base 16.

5.4 CONVERSION OF BINARY, OCTAL, HEXADECIMAL TO DECIMAL

A binary, octal or hexadecimal number has two parts—integer part and fraction part. For
example, a binary number could be 10011, 0.011001 or 10011.0111. The numbers 45, .362 or
245.362 are octal numbers. A hexadecimal number could be A2, .4C2 or A1.34.

The method used for the conversion of integer part and fraction part of binary, octal or
hexadecimal number to decimal number is the same; multiplication operation is used for the
conversion. The conversion mechanism uses the face value and position value of digits. The
steps for conversion are as follows—

1. Find the sum of the Face Value * (fromBase)positio for each digit in the number.
1. In a non-fractional number, the rightmost digit has position 0 and the position
increases as we go towards the left.
2. In a fractional number, the first digit to the left of decimal point has position 0
and the position increases as we go towards the left. The first digit to the right of
the decimal point has position –1 and it decreases as we go towards the right (−2,
−3, etc.)

Example 9: Convert 1011 from Base 2 to Base 10.

 Convert 62 from Base 8 to Base 10.

Convert C15 from Base 16 to Base 10.

Example 10: Convert .1101 from Base 2 to Base 10.

Convert .345 from Base 8 to Base 10.

Convert .15 from Base 16 to Base 10.

Example 11: Convert 1011.1001 from Base 2 to Base 10.

Convert 24.36 from Base 8 to Base 10.

Convert 4D.21 from Base 16 to Base 10.

5.5 CONVERSION OF BINARY TO OCTAL, HEXADECIMAL

A binary number can be converted into octal or hexadecimal number using a shortcut method.
The shortcut method is based on the following information—

 An octal digit from 0 to 7 can be represented as a combination of 3 bits, since 23 = 8.

 A hexadecimal digit from 0 to 15 can be represented as a combination of 4 bits, since 2 4
= 16.

The Steps for Binary to Octal Conversion are—

1. Partition the binary number in groups of three bits, starting from the right-most side.
2. For each group of three bits, find its octal number.
3. The result is the number formed by the combination of the octal numbers.

The Steps for Binary to Hexadecimal Conversion are—

1. Partition the binary number in groups of four bits, starting from the right-most side.
2. For each group of four bits, find its hexadecimal number.
3. The result is the number formed by the combination of the hexadecimal numbers.

Example 12: Convert the binary number 1110101100110 to octal.

Given binary number 1110101100110

1. Partition binary number in groups of three bits, starting from the right-most side.
 2. For each group find its octal number.

3. The octal number is 16546.

Example 13: Convert the binary number 1110101100110 to hexadecimal

Given binary number 1110101100110

1. Partition binary number in groups of four bits, starting from the right-most side.

2. For each group find its hexadecimal number.

3. The hexadecimal number is 1D66.

5.6 CONVERSION OF OCTAL, HEXADECIMAL TO BINARY

The conversion of a number from octal and hexadecimal to binary uses the inverse of the steps
defined for the conversion of binary to octal and hexadecimal.

The Steps for Octal to Binary Conversion are—

1. Convert each octal number into a three-digit binary number.

2. The result is the number formed by the combination of all the bits.

The Steps for Hexadecimal to Binary Conversion are—

1. Convert each hexadecimal number into a four-digit binary number.

2. The result is the number formed by the combination of all the bits.

Example 14: Convert the hexadecimal number 2BA3 to binary.

1. Given number is 2BA3

2. Convert each hexadecimal digit into four digit binary number.

3. Combine all the bits to get the result 0010101110100011.

Example 15: Convert the octal number 473 to binary.

1. Given number is 473

2. Convert each octal digit into three digit binary number.

3. Combine all the bits to get the result 100111011.

5.7 BINARY ARITHMETIC

The arithmetic operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, performed on the

binary numbers is called binary arithmetic. In computer, the basic arithmetic operations
performed on the binary numbers is—

 Binary addition, and

 Binary subtraction.

In the following subsections, we discuss the binary addition and the binary subtraction
operations.

5.7.1 Binary Addition

Binary addition involves addition of two or more binary numbers. The binary addition rules are
used while performing the binary addition. Table 5.3 shows the binary addition rules.

Table 5.3 Binary addition rules

Binary addition of three inputs follows the rule shown in Table 5.4.
Table 5.4 Binary addition of three inputs

Addition of the binary numbers involves the following steps—

1. Start addition by adding the bits in unit column (the right-most column). Use the rules of
binary addition.
2. The result of adding bits of a column is a sum with or without a carry.
3. Write the sum in the result of that column.
4. If a carry is present, the carry is carried-over to the addition of the next left column.
5. Repeat steps 2–4 for each column, i.e., the tens column, hundreds column and so on.

Let us now understand binary addition with the help of some examples.

Example 1: Add 10 and 01. Verify the answer with the help of decimal addition.

When we add 0 and 1 in the unit column, sum is 1 and there is no carry. The sum 1 is written in
the unit column of the result. In the tens column, we add 1 and 0 to get the sum 1. There is no
carry. The sum 1 is written in the tens column of the result.

Example 2: Add 01 and 11. Verify the answer with the help of decimal addition.

When we add 1 and 1 in the unit column, sum is 0 and carry is 1. The sum 0 is written in the unit
column of the result. The carry is carried-over to the next column, i.e., the tens column. In the
tens column, we add 0, 1 and the carried-over 1, to get sum 0 and carry 1. The sum 0 is written in
the tens column of the result. The carry 1 is carried-over to the hundreds column. In the hundreds
column, the result is 1.
Example 3: Add 11 and 11. Verify the answer with the help of decimal addition.

Example 4: Add 1101 and 1111. Verify the answer with the help of decimal addition.

Example 5: Add 10111, 11100 and 11. Verify theanswer with the help of decimal addition.

5.7.2 Binary Subtraction

Binary subtraction involves subtracting of two binary numbers. The binary subtraction rules are
used while performing the binary subtraction. The binary subtraction rules are shown in Table
5.5, where “Input 2” is subtracted from “Input 1.”
Table 5.5 Binary subtraction rules

The steps for performing subtraction of the binary numbers are as follows—

1. Start subtraction by subtracting the bit in the lower row from the upper row, in the unit
column.
2. Use the binary subtraction rules. If the bit in the upper row is less than lower row, borrow
1 from the upper row of the next column (on the left side). The result of subtracting two
bits is the difference.
3. Write the difference in the result of that column.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each column, i.e., the tens column, hundreds column and so on.

Let us now understand binary subtraction with the help of some examples.

Example 1: Subtract 01 from 11. Verify the answer with the help of decimal subtraction.

When we subtract 1 from 1 in the unit column, the difference is 0. Write the difference in the
unit column of the result. In the tens column, subtract 0 from 1 to get the difference 1. Write the
difference in the tens column of the result.

Example 2: Subtract 01 from 10. Verify the answer with the help of decimal subtraction.

When we subtract 1 from 0 in the unit column, we have to borrow 1 from the left column since 0
is less than 1. After borrowing from the left column, 0 in the unit column becomes 10, and, 1 in
the left column becomes 0. We perform 10-1 to get the difference 1. We write the difference in
the unit column of the result. In the tens column, subtract 0 from 0 to get the difference 0. We
write the difference 0 in the tens column of the result.
Example 3: Subtract 0111 from 1110. Verify the answer with the help of decimal subtraction.

When we do 0–1 in the unit column, we have to borrow 1 from the left column since 0 is less
than 1. After borrowing from the left column, 0 in the unit column becomes 10, and, 1 in the left
column becomes 0. We perform 10-1 to get the difference 1. We write the difference in the unit
column of the result. In the tens column, when we do 0-1, we again borrow 1 from the left
column. We perform 10-1 to get the difference 1. We write the difference in the tens column of
the result. In the hundreds column, when we do 0-1, we again borrow 1 from the left column. We
perform 10-1 to get the difference 1. We write the difference in the hundreds column of the
result. In the thousands column, 0–0 is 0. We write the difference 0 in the thousands column of
the result.

Example 4: Subtract 100110 from 110001. Verify the answer with the help of decimal
subtraction.

5.8 SIGNED AND UNSIGNED NUMBERS

A binary number may be positive or negative. Generally, we use the symbol “+” and “−” to
represent positive and negative numbers, respectively. The sign of a binary number has to be
represented using 0 and 1, in the computer. An n-bit signed binary number consists of two
parts—sign bit and magnitude. The left most bit, also called the Most Significant Bit (MSB) is
the sign bit. The remaining n-1 bits denote the magnitude of the number.

In signed binary numbers, the sign bit is 0 for a positive number and 1 for a negative number.
For example, 01100011 is a positive number since its sign bit is 0, and, 11001011 is a negative
number since its sign bit is 1. An 8–bit signed number can represent data in the range −128 to
+127 (–27to +27−1). The left-most bit is the sign bit.

In an n-bit unsigned binary number, the magnitude of the number n is stored in n bits. An 8–bit
unsigned number can represent data in the range 0 to 255 (28 = 256).

5.8.1 Complement of Binary Numbers

Complements are used in computer for the simplification of the subtraction operation. For any
number in base r, there exist two complements—(1) r’s complement and (2) r-1 ’s complement.

Number System Base Complements possible

Binary 2 1’s complement and 2’s complement
Octal 8 7’s complement and 8’s complement
Decimal 10 9’s complement and 10’s complement
Hexadecimal 16 15’s complement and 16’s complement

Let us now see how to find the complement of a binary number. There are two types of
complements for the binary number system—1’s complement and 2’s complement.

 1’s Complement of Binary Number is computed by changing the bits 1 to 0 and the bits
0 to 1. For example,

1’s complement of 101 is 010

1’s complement of 1011 is 0100

1’s complement of 1101100 is 0010011

 2’s Complement of Binary Number is computed by adding 1 to the 1’s complement of

the binary number. For example,

2’s complement of 101 is 010 + 1 = 011

2’s complement of 1011 is 0100 + 1 = 0101

 2’s complement of 1101100 is 0010011 + 1 = 0010100

The rule to find the complement of any number N in base r having n digits is

(r − 1)’s complement—(rn − 1) − N

(r’s) complement2—(rn − 1) − N + 1 = (rn − N)

5.9 BINARY DATA REPRESENTATION

A binary number may also have a binary point, in addition to the sign. The binary point is used
for representing fractions, integers and integer-fraction numbers. Registers are high-speed
storage areas within the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer. All data are brought
into a register before it can be processed. For example, if two numbers are to be added, both the
numbers are brought in registers, added, and the result is also placed in a register. There are two
ways of representing the position of the binary point in the register—fixed point number
representation and floating point number representation.

The fixed point number representation assumes that the binary point is fixed at one position
either at the extreme left to make the number a fraction, or at the extreme right to make the
number an integer. In both cases, the binary point is not stored in the register, but the number is
treated as a fraction or integer. For example, if the binary point is assumed to be at extreme left,
the number 1100 is actually treated as 0.1100.

The floatingpoint number representation uses two registers. The first register stores the number
without the binary point. The second register stores a number that indicates the position of the
binary point in the first register.

We shall now discuss representation of data in the fixed point number representation and floating
point number representation.

5.9.1 Fixed Point Number Representation

The integer binary signed number is represented as follows—

 For a positive integer binary number, the sign bit is 0 and the magnitude is a positive
binary number.
 For a negative integer binary number, the sign bit is 1. The magnitude is represented in
any one of the three ways—
o Signed Magnitude Representation—The magnitude is the positive binary number
itself.
o Signed 1 ’s Complement Representation—The magnitude is the 1’s complement
of the positive binary number.
o Signed 2’s Complement Representation—The magnitude is the 2’s complement
of the positive binary number.
Table 5.6 shows the representation of the signed number 18.

Table 5.6 Fixed point representation of the signed number 18

Signed magnitude and signed 1’s complement representation are seldom used in computer
arithmetic.

Let us now perform arithmetic operations on the signed binary numbers. We use the signed ’s
complement representation to represent the negative numbers.

 Addition of Signed Binary Numbers—The addition of any two signed binary numbers is
performed as follows—
o Represent the positive number in binary form.(For example, +5 is 0000 0101 and
+10 is 0000 1010)
o Represent the negative number in ’s complement form. (For example, —5 is 1111
1011 and –10 is 1111 0110)
o Add the bits of the two signed binary numbers.
o Ignore any carry out from the sign bit position.

Please note that the negative output is automatically in the ’s complement form.

We get the decimal equivalent of the negative output number, by finding its 2’s complement, and
attaching a negative sign to the obtained result.

Let us understand the addition of two signed binary numbers with the help of some examples.

Example 1: Add +5 and +10.

+5 in binary form, i.e., 0000 0101. +10 in binary form, i.e., 0000 1010.
Example 2: Add −5 and +10.

−5 in ’s complement form is 1111 1011. +10 in binary form is 0000 1010.

Example 3: Add +5 and −10.

+5 in binary form is 0000 0101. −10 in ’s complement form is 1111 0110. 1111 1011.

The result is in 2’s complement form. To find its decimal equivalent—

Find the 2’s complement of 1111 1011, i.e., 0000 0100 + 1 = 0000 0101. This is binary
equivalent of + 5. Attaching a negative sign to the obtained result gives us −5.

Example 4: Add −5 and −10.

−5 in ’s complement form is 1111 1011. −10 in 2’s complement form is 1111 0110.

The result is in 2’s complement form. To find its decimal equivalent—

Find the ’s complement of 1111 0001, i.e., 0000 1110 + 1 = 0000 1111. This is binary equivalent
of +15. Attaching a negative sign to the obtained result gives us −15.

 Subtraction of Signed Binary Numbers—The subtraction of signed binary numbers is

changed to the addition of two signed numbers. For this, the sign of the second number is
changed before performing the addition operation.
 (−A) − (+B) = (−A) + (−B) (+B in subtraction is changed to −B in addition)
(+A) − (+B) = (+A) + (−B) (+B in subtraction is changed to −B in addition)
(−A) − (−B) = (−A) + (+B) (−B in subtraction is changed to +B in addition)
(+A) − (−B) = (+A) + (+B) (−B in subtraction is changed to +B in addition)

We see that the subtraction of signed binary numbers is performed using the addition operation.

The hardware logic for the fixed point number representation is simple, when we use ’s
complement for addition and subtraction of the signed binary numbers. When two large numbers
having the same sign are added, then an overflow may occur, which has to be handled.

5.9.2 Floating Point Number Representation

The floating point representation of a number has two parts—mantissa and exponent. The
mantissa is a signed fixed point number. The exponent shows the position of the binary point in
the mantissa.

For example, the binary number +11001.11 with an 8−bit mantissa and 6−bit exponent is
represented as follows—

 Mantissa is 01100111. The left most 0 indicates that the number is positive.
 Exponent is 000101. This is the binary equivalent of decimal number + 5.
 The floating point number is Mantissa x 2exponent, i.e., + (.1100111) x 2+5.

The arithmetic operation with the floating point numbers is complicated, and uses complex
hardware as compared to the fixed point representation. However, floating point calculations are
required in scientific calculations, so, computers have a built−in hardware for performing
floating point arithmetic operations.

5.10 BINARY CODING SCHEMES

The alphabetic data, numeric data, alphanumeric data, symbols, sound data and video data, are
represented as combination of bits in the computer. The bits are grouped in a fixed size, such as 8
bits, 6 bits or 4 bits. A code is made by combining bits of definite size. Binary Coding schemes
represent the data such as alphabets, digits 0−9, and symbols in a standard code. A combination
of bits represents a unique symbol in the data. The standard code enables any programmer to use
the same combination of bits to represent a symbol in the data.

The binary coding schemes that are most commonly used are—

 Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC),

 American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), and
 Unicode

In the following subsections, we discuss the EBCDIC, ASCII and Unicode coding schemes.