Number Systems

CSE 115

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Introduction to Numbering
Systems

• We are all familiar with the decimal number

system (Base 10). Some other number
systems that we will work with are:

• Binary  Base 2
• Octal  Base 8
• Hexadecimal  Base 16

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 Characteristics of Numbering
Systems
1) The digits are consecutive.
2) The number of digits is equal to the size of the
base.
3) Zero is always the first digit.
4) The base number is never a digit.
5) When 1 is added to the largest digit, a sum of
zero and a carry of one results.
6) Numeric values determined by the implicit
positional values of the digits.
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 Significant Digits

Binary: 11101101

Most significant digit Least significant digit

Hexadecimal: 1D63A7A

Most significant digit Least significant digit

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 Binary Number System

• Also called the “Base 2 system”

• The binary number system is used to model the
series of electrical signals computers use to
represent information
• 0 represents the no voltage or an off state
• 1 represents the presence of voltage or an
on state

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 Binary Numbering Scale

Base 2 Base 10 Positional

Power
Number Equivalent Value

000 0 20 1
001 1 21 2
010 2 22 4
011 3 23 8
100 4 24 16
101 5 25 32
110 6 26 64
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111 7 27
128
 Binary Addition

4 Possible Binary Addition Combinations:

(1) 0 (2) 0
+0 +1
Carry Sum Note that leading
00 01
zeroes are frequently
dropped.

(3) 1 (4) 1
+0 +1
01 10
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 Decimal to Binary Conversion

• The easiest way to convert a decimal number to

its binary equivalent is to use the Division
Algorithm
• This method repeatedly divides a decimal
number by 2 and records the quotient and
remainder 
• The remainder digits (a sequence of zeros and ones)
form the binary equivalent in least significant to most
significant digit sequence
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 Division Algorithm

Convert 67 to its binary equivalent:

6710 = x2
Step 1: 67 / 2 = 33 R 1 Divide 67 by 2. Record quotient in next row

Step 2: 33 / 2 = 16 R 1 Again divide by 2; record quotient in next row

Step 3: 16 / 2 = 8 R 0 Repeat again

Step 4: 8 / 2 = 4 R 0 Repeat again

Step 5: 4 / 2 = 2 R 0 Repeat again

Step 6: 2 / 2 = 1 R 0 Repeat again

Step 7: 1 / 2 = 0 R 1 STOP when quotient equals 0

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1 0 0 0 0 1 12
 Binary to Decimal Conversion
• The easiest method for converting a binary number to its
decimal equivalent is to use the Multiplication Algorithm
• Multiply the binary digits by increasing powers of two, starting
from the right
• Then, to find the decimal number equivalent, sum those
products

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 Multiplication Algorithm
Convert (10101101)2 to its decimal equivalent:

Binary 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
x x x x x x x x
Positional Values 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
Products 128 + 32 + 8 + 4 + 1

17310
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 Octal Number System
• Also known as the Base 8 System
• Uses digits 0 - 7
• Readily converts to binary
• Groups of three (binary) digits can be used to represent each
octal digit
• Also uses multiplication and division algorithms for conversion
to and from base 10

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 Decimal to Octal Conversion

Convert 42710 to its octal equivalent:

427 / 8 = 53 R3 Divide by 8; R is LSD

53 / 8 = 6 R5 Divide Q by 8; R is next digit
6 / 8 = 0 R6 Repeat until Q = 0

6538
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 Octal to Decimal Conversion

Convert 6538 to its decimal equivalent:

Octal Digits 6 5 3
x x x
Positional Values 82 81 80
Products 384 + 40 + 3

42710 14
 Octal to Binary Conversion

Each octal number converts to 3 binary digits

To convert 6538 to binary, just

substitute code:

6 5 3

110 101
011
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 Hexadecimal Number System
• Base 16 system

• Uses digits 0-9 &

letters A,B,C,D,E,F
• Groups of four bits
represent each
base 16 digit

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 Decimal to Hexadecimal
Conversion
Convert 83010 to its hexadecimal equivalent:

830 / 16 = 51 R14 = E in Hex

51 / 16 = 3 R3
3 / 16 = 0 R3

33E16
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 Hexadecimal to Decimal
Conversion
Convert 3B4F16 to its decimal equivalent:

Hex Digits 3 B 4 F
x x x x
Positional Values 163 162 161 160
Products 12288 +2816 + 64 +15

15,18310 18
Binary to Hexadecimal Conversion

• The easiest method for converting binary to

hexadecimal is to use a substitution code
• Each hex number converts to 4 binary digits

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 Substitution Code
Convert 0101011010101110011010102 to hex
using the 4-bit substitution code :

5 6 A E 6
A
0101 0110 1010 1110 0110 1010

56AE6A16
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 Substitution Code
Substitution code can also be used to convert binary
to octal by using 3-bit groupings:

255271528
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 Complement

• Complement is the negative equivalent of a number.

• If we have a number N then complement of N will give us
another number which is equivalent to –N
• So if complement of N is M, then we can say M = -N
• So complement of M = -M = -(-N) = N
• So complement of complement gives the original
number

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 Types of Complement
• For a number of base r, two types of complements can be
found
 1. r’s complement

 2. (r-1)’s complement

• Definition:
 If N is a number of base r having n digits then
o r’s complement of N = rn – N and

o (r-1)’s complement of N = rn-N-1

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 Example

• Suppose N = (3675)10

• So we can find two complements of this number. The 10’s

complement and the 9’s complement. Here n = 4
• 10’s complement of (3675) = 104 - 3675

= 6325
• 9’s complement of (3675) = 104 - 3675 -1

= 6324
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Short cut way to find (r-1)’s complement

• In the previous example we see that 9’s complement of

3675 is 6324. We can get the result by subtracting each
digit from 9.
• Similarly for other base, the (r-1)’s complement can be
found by subtracting each digit from r-1 (the highest
digit in that system).
• For binary 1’s complement is even more easy. Just
change 1 to 0 and 0 to 1. (Because 1-1=0 and 1-0=1)

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 Example:
• Find the (r-1)’s complement in short cut method.
 (620143)8 Ans: 157634

 (A4D7E)16 Ans: 5B281

 (110100101)2 Ans: 001011010

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Short cut way to find r’s complement
• From the definition we can say,
 r’s complement of (N) = (r-1)’s complement +1
• So, we can first find the (r-1)’s complement in short cut
way then add 1 to get the r’s complement.
• Example: r’s complement of (620143)8 =157634 + 1
= 157635
This method is a two step process. But we can find it in
one step process also.

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Short cut way to find r’s
complement
• One step process:
 Start from rightmost digit to left.
 Initial zeros will remain unchanged
 Rightmost non-zero digit will be subtracted from r
 Rest of the digits will be subtracted from r-1
• Example:
 Find the 10’s complement of (529400)10
 Rightmost 2 zeros will not change, 4 will be subtracted from 10
and rest of the digits 529 will be subtracted from 9
 So the result is 470600

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 Example

Find the r’s complement in short cut method.

• (8210)10 Ans: 1790

• (61352)10 Ans: 38648

• (6201430)8 Ans: 1576350

• (A4D7E0)16 Ans: 5B2820

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 Example for binary
• For binary: start from rightmost bit
• Up to first 1 – no change.
• For rest of the bits toggle (Change 1 to 0 and 0 to 1)
 (11010010100)2 Ans: 00101101100
 (01101001011)2 Ans: 10010110101
 (10000000)2 Ans: 10000000

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 Use of Complement
• Complement is used to perform subtraction using addition

• Mathematically A-B = A + (-B)

• So we can get the result of A-B by adding complement of B

with A.
• So A-B = A + Complement of (B)

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Addition and Subtraction
• Two's complement addition follows the same rules as binary
addition.

5 + (-3)  =  2 0000 0101  =  +5

+ 1111 1101  =  -3
  0000 0010  =  +2

• Two's complement subtraction is the binary addition of the

minuend to the 2's complement of the subtrahend (adding a
negative number is the same as subtracting a positive one).

7 - 12 = (-5) 0000 0111  =  +7

+ 1111 0100  =  -12 32
  1111 1011  =  -5
 Reference
• http://www.engr.iupui.edu/~orr/webpages/cpt220/slides/nu
mber-systems.ppt
• http://academic.evergreen.edu/projects/biophysics/technot
es/program/2s_comp.htm#calculate

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