INTRODUCTION TO NUMBER SYSTEMS - QUESTIONS

For each of the following questions, write some brief notes to answer the question as fully as possible.

1. What is a bit?

A binary digit that is written as either 0 or 1.

2. What is a byte?

A group of (usually) 8 bits.

3. What is a word?

A group of bytes.

4. What is a character set?

The group of characters recognised by the computer/operating system. Each character is assigned a unique
code. There are three main character sets that are in use: ASCII, UNICODE, EBCDIC.

5. How are parity bits used in conjunction with an ASCII character set?

One of the bits is within an ASCII character set is used to perform a parity check. A parity check is a form
of error checking.

6. Explain why an ASCII character set would not be suitable for a UK based computer system.

7. Explain why should web pages usually be encoded using a UNICODE character set?

THE BINARY AND DENARY SYSTEMS

1. What is the denary number system?

2. What is the binary number system?

3. For each of the following denary numbers, write out their binary equivalents as 8-bit bytes, remember
to show your working when you make these conversions:

a. 5

b. 13
c. 15

d. 44

e. 80