When we’re converting the number 268, 2 is the second digit, 6 is the first digit and 8 is the zero digit. There are two important numbers that we have to know to ‘deconstruct’ the number - the base of the number system and the location of the digit within the number. So how do we convert between number systems? First consider how we determine the value of a decimal number. It’s useful to know how to convert a binary number into a decimal number and vice versa. A single hexadecimal digit can represent four binary digits!īinary numbers can only consist of 1’s and 0’s typically a binary number consists of 8 digits (or some multiple of 8) if it’s being used in some kind of a computer (or microcontroller). Hexadecimal numbers are usually prefixed with the characters '0x' which are not part of the number. The hexadecimal system can represent much larger numbers using fewer characters, and it closely resembles binary numbers. The binary system is simple to understand, but it takes a lot of digits to use the binary system to represent large numbers. The periods in the number don't represent anything, they just make it easier to read the number. An example of a binary number is 0b0100.1011. Sometimes they are also subdivided into groups of 4 digits to make them easier to read as well as easier to relate to the hexadecimal number system. Binary numbers are usually prefixed with the '0b' characters which are not part of the number. Since computers and microcontrollers are limited to 1’s and 0’s, they count using sequences of these numbers. Unfortunately, it’s not how computers count. ![]() We use decimal because it comes naturally that’s the way we count. When writing programs for microcontrollers we’re usually stuck dealing with 3 different number systems: decimal, binary and hexadecimal (or hex).
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