What is Binary?

Understanding Binary

Binary is a number system that uses only two digits: 0 and 1. It is also known as the base-2 numeral system. Binary is the foundation of all modern computing systems, as computers use binary to process and store data. Each binary digit (or bit) represents a power of 2, and larger numbers can be represented by combining bits.

How Does Binary Work?

In binary, numbers are represented using only the digits 0 and 1. Each digit in a binary number represents an increasing power of 2, starting from the right. For example, the binary number 101 represents the decimal number 5, as it equates to (1 × 2²) + (0 × 2¹) + (1 × 2⁰).

Binary is also used to represent other types of data, such as text, images, and sound, by encoding the information into a series of 0s and 1s that computers can interpret.

Why is Binary Important?

Binary is essential for the operation of digital systems, as it is the language computers understand. At the hardware level, computers use electrical circuits to represent binary data, where a high voltage corresponds to 1 and a low voltage corresponds to 0. This simple system allows for the efficient processing and storage of vast amounts of data.

Examples of Binary Numbers

• Binary: 1011
• Decimal Equivalent: 11
• Binary: 1101
• Decimal Equivalent: 13