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Arithmetic Shift Right Explained

The document discusses dividing a negative integer by four using a bit shift operation. A right shift logical cannot be used because it moves zeros into the high-order bit, changing the sign. An arithmetic right shift replicates the sign bit to properly represent the result as a negative number. An arithmetic shift left is not needed because it does not affect the sign bit.

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266 views1 page

Arithmetic Shift Right Explained

The document discusses dividing a negative integer by four using a bit shift operation. A right shift logical cannot be used because it moves zeros into the high-order bit, changing the sign. An arithmetic right shift replicates the sign bit to properly represent the result as a negative number. An arithmetic shift left is not needed because it does not affect the sign bit.

Uploaded by

adetejubello
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Answer:

1111 1111 1111 0000 0011 1111 1111 1100

Is the resulting pattern the correct representation for -16/4? No. The result represents a large
positive number, not -4

Shift Right Arithmetic


A right shift logical can not be used to divide a negative integer by two. The problem is that a shift
right logical moves zeros into the high order bit. This is desirable in some situations, but not for
dividing negative integers where the high order bit is the "sign bit." An arithmetic right shift
replicates the sign bit as needed to fill bit positions:

QUESTION 13:

Is there a need for an arithmetic shift left instruction?

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