CT1039N Personal Development for Communications Technology Coursework 1 Topic: Number Systems

28/04/2010 ThiagoGullo 0704 Kevin Munisami

Abstract Everyonemust, at some pointorother , make use ofnumbers. A business manmayemploy a costaccountant to amassandconstrue volumes ofstatistics, and a sultanmaydelegate to

hisvizierthedelicatetaskofcountinghiswives; butneitherofthemcanwholly dispense withthe processes ofcounting. Similarly, theshopperwhocannotaddtwo figures togetheronpaper is still acutelynumberconscious; shewillcertainlynotbesatisfiedwith four bananas ifshehaspaid for five, norwillshebeslow to observe andcommentuponanydiscrepancies in herchange.

1. Main Systems 1.1 Binary Numeral System or Base-2 It represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1 and to representcodes and data. Since zeros and ones can be easily represented by two voltages, the binary system is the foundation on which digitaltechnology is built. Every digital computer whether a pocket calculator or a mainframe uses the same binary notation. E.g.: 10011101 If we want to convert binary to decimal, normally we use a formula as shown below, which simplify our lives. 128 1 64 0 32 0 16 1 8 1 4 1 2 0 1 1

In our example we would have 128 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 157.

1.2 Decimal Number System Basically, it is a positional system of numeration that uses decimal digits and a base of ten, also can be called base ten or occasionally denary. Eg.:1, 2, 3. n

1.3 Hexadecimal Number A arithmetic system used by computers, also called hex or base 16, that is based on sixteen digits. And it represents sixteen digits, the hexadecimal system uses 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F.

2. Conversion between number systems There are many ways of converting numbers into different systems, based on successively division. But once you put the systems altogheter in a table shown below, it makes the process a little bit easier if we are considering 4 bits, which is very used for the new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). BINARY (4 BITS) 0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1110 1111 HEXADECIMAL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

Eg.1: BADHEX to BINARY SYSTEM B = 1011 A= 1011 D= 1101 BADHEX = 101110101101BIN

Eg.2:

20HEX to DECIMAL SYSTEM 2 = 0010 0 = 0000 0 0 1 0 0000

26

20HEX = 32DEC

Conclusion Well, numbers are, in fact, theconcernofeverybody in everyday use. Numbertheory is

thebranchofmathswhich, besidesbeingthefatherofallthemathematics, is alsothatnearest to a nontechnical public. Thisdoesntmeanthatthesubjectis necessarilyofanelementarynature. Manyof its more advancedproblemsinvolvethe use ofextremelycomplicated processes oflogic, whilst some

celebratedproblems are still no nearer to any solution whatever.

Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is. Paul Erdos

Reference:

Reichmann, W. J., 1957. The Fascination of Numbers.1st ed. London (UK): Methuen & Co Ltd. Availableat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_numeral_system [Accessed 25/04/2010]