one to a million of numbers

[Scapanapper]

Paul_D:

Same as Binary effectively but to the power of 16......7A5 = 7 x16 x16 + 10 x 16 + 5 (where A effectively = 10, B= 11, C= 12 etc) Simple!          :confused:  

Thanks Paul I think I get it but no need to call me Simple!

[Paul_D]

Meant to say base 16 actually. Probably a better way of explaining the above:

 

5 x 16 to the power of 0 = 5

plus

10 x 16 to the power of 1 = 160

plus

7 x 16 to the power of 2 = 1792 etc.

 

That's enough thinking for today!

[Scapanapper]

Paul_D:

Meant to say base 16 actually. Probably a better way of explaining the above:

 

5 x 16 to the power of 0 = 5

plus

10 x 16 to the power of 1 = 160

plus

7 x 16 to the power of 2 = 1792 etc.

 

That's enough thinking for today!        

Right . Why didn't you say that in the first place?? :confused:

 

PS 1792? we were talking about my birth date not Chester's

 

[ 30. September 2004, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Scapanapper ]

[Newt]

The system we use (to the point that it seems 'normal' to us) is base 10 / decimal.

 

Discrete numbers are from zero to nine and after nine, we have to do something different. That thing is to let the number roll from nine back to zero but add a 1 onto it so that after 9 comes 10 and we call that ten while knowing it is simply one more than nine. We know to count that way although we normally omit the zero and have invented great names for numbers larger than 9 like ten or twenty or whatever.

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc.

 

Nice, easy system to work with and matches nicely with the number of fingers we have. But not the only possibility. You can use any number base that is convenient as long as you say which one. Base 10 is pretty much the default for people so we don't bother to specify.

 

Early computers operated from mechanical switches that had two positions. They were either off or on. Binary seemed a natural fit to switches (two positions) just as decimal is a good fit to most people (10 fingers). In binary with only zero and one to work with, after zero comes one and after one comes zero again with an added number so you go above one. Since mostly math and computer geeks work with the stuff, no one bothered to invent nice names for the numbers above one though.

0, 1, 10, 11, etc.

 

Hexadecimal (base 16) is convenient for the same computer geek folks because it is very easy to translate numbers from binary notation (which gets horribly long) to base 16 which is much shorter. The geekly guys (who must have had a sense of humor by using byte for 8 bits and nibble for half a byte) decided not to invent new symbols though so Hex uses letters for the additional symbols needed to display Hex numbers above 9.

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, etc. and after F comes 10 but it is not the same as ten any more than a binary 10 is ten. Us decimal users would call the 10 in Hex seventeen.

 

You can see the easier translation because, for instance, a binary byte is 11111111 (8 bits). Way too long to deal with if you can avoid it but critical for PC programming.

 

11111111 binary = 255 decimal. Better but doesn't make things that much easier.

 

11111111 binary = FF hexadecimal. Lots easier and a nice round number.

 

And the 'megabyte' the PC folks always talk about is

11111111111111111111 binary = 1048575 decimal = FFFFF Hexadecimal

Notice the decimal number is the only really stupid looking one. Binary and Hex are nice, round numbers.

[Scapanapper]

Thanks Newt.

Is that all your own work?

If so very impressed

Cheers

Scapa

[Zigs]

WOW NEWT, i'll stick to being born in roman times, at least they could give people the V's when they asked for the time at 5 'o clock

 

[Zigs]

back to bz's thread,

 

3

[Zigs]

sorry, rob i 's thread,

 

4

[bluezulu]

5

not many numbers left so get in quick or be disappointed!

[greg long]

6 you sick b******ds