Why do we need to study number systems?
Here are the fundamentals:
Basically, electronics can be classified either analog or digital. Analog electronics is concerned primarily on circuits which uses analog signals(sine waves, instantaneous voltage, etc). While a digital electronics is the fundamental concept in the field of computer and other digital devices that uses only high and low signals.
Now, number systems is in digital electronics since this circuits works in binary signal (meaning either high or low, 0 or 1). Do you get it? I think it is somehow vague. So let me explain it more (in a better and understandable way).
Let’s say we have a computer. We all know that this computer can do numerous computations and operations. It can be basic (arithmetic operations) or advance (language processing). And this computer set that we have will not work unless there is a source of power/energy (which is electricity) that makes it to run. This small electrical signals is either of the two, 0V or 5V (this is the fundamental and conventional concept). Therefore if we are going to make a mathematical equivalent of this signals, our mathematics will revolved in two digits, 1 and 0. A two digit number system is known as a binary. So then, we can say that the data (in the form of small electrical voltage) inside our computer is in binary form.
In programming, digital design, embedded system and other several applications, knowledge in manipulating and understanding of number systems are important.
Here’s the question, for what purpose is the hexadecimal notation? The answere is this. Assume we have a 4-bit data, this might be any four combination of 0s’ an 1s’ (e.g. 0001, 1010, etc.). But what if we have a 32-bit of data? This would only mean that there will be 32 combinations of 0s’ and 1s’. These 0s’ and 1s’ are so many that it is not practical to use in certain situation. Here comes the hexadecimal notation to make a large bit of data in binary form to be converted to a smaller notation.
For example, a 1001111011000011 is a 16-bit data (binary). In hexadecimal notation, this will be 9EC3 (hexadecimal).
1001111011000011 and 9EC3 are equal in value. Make sense?
Ooops, I’ve forget the decimal number system. Well, it is simple. Decimal number system is the number system we use in our daily living.
Rowatronix 