Chapter 3 Number and Character Coding System

Multiple Choice Questions

P03M001
The hexadecimal representation of 101110110112 is ___________.
A. BB316
B. 5DB16
C. 273316
D. 566616
Answer
B

P03M002
The denary representation of 245816 is ___________.
A. 930010
B. 930210
C. 930310
D. 930410
Answer
D

P03M003
Which of the following numbers is/are larger than 12010?
(1) 8016
(2) 11110002
(3) 10000002
A. (1) only
B. (3) only
C. (1) and (3) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
A

P03M004
Which of the following numbers can be hexadecimal?
(1) 99
(2) 1011000
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 (3) 21G6
A. (1) only
B. (3) only
C. (1) and (2) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

P03M005
The binary representation of the MAC address of a NIC card has 48 bits. How many digits
does it have if it is converted into a hexadecimal number?
A. 16
B. 12
C. 8
D. 6
Answer
B

P03M006
30 GB + 200 MB is equivalent to ______________ bytes.
A. 30 × 230 + 200 × 220
B. 30 × 220 + 200 × 230
C. 30 × 109 + 200 × 106
D. 30 × 106 + 200 × 109
Answer
A

P03M007
Which of the following shows the descending order of the values?
A. FE16 > 11110002 > 11010
B. FE16 > 11010 > 11110002
C. 11010 > FE16 > 11110002
D. 11110002 > 11010 > FE16
Answer
A

P03M008
Which of the following can be represented by GB code?
(1) Simplified Chinese characters
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 (2) English letters and symbols
(3) Traditional Chinese characters
A. (1) only
B. (2) only
C. (1) and (2) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

P03M009
Which of the following numbers represent(s) the biggest value of a 20-bit unsigned binary
number? (Assume all the following numbers are unsigned.)
(1) 220 –1
(2) 106–1
(3) FFFFF
A. (1) only
B. (2) only
C. (1) and (3) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

P03M010
Which of the following orders of steps can be used to calculate the two’s complement of a
binary number?
(1) Toggle all the bits of the original binary number, i.e., from ‘0’ to ‘1’ or from ‘1’ to ‘0’.
(2) Toggle all the bits of the one’s complement, i.e., from ‘0’ to ‘1’ or from ‘1’ to ‘0’.
(3) Add 1 to the original binary number.
(4) Add 1 to the one’s complement.
A. (1)  (4)
B. (2)  (3)
C. (3)  (2)
D. (4)  (1)
Answer
A

P03M011
Which of the following mappings about character coding system is not correct?
Coding The number of bits
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A. ASCII 7
B. Big5 code 16
C. GB code 16
D. Unicode 32
Answer
D

P03M012
How many characters can be represented by the extended ASCII coding system?
A. 128
B. 256
C. 1,024
D. 65,536
Answer
B

P03M013
Which of the following statements about one’s complement is / are correct?
(1) The one’s complement of a positive number is the negative value of the same
number.
(2) The one’s complement of zero is also zero.
(3) The one’s complement of a number can be obtained by toggling all the bits, i.e.,
from ‘0’ to ‘1’ or from ‘1’ to ‘0’.
A. (1) only
B. (3) only
C. (1) and (2) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
B

P03M014
Which of the following statements about two’s complement is/are correct?
(1) The two’s complement of a number can be obtained by adding 1 to the one’s
complement.
(2) The two’s complement of a number can be obtained by subtracting 1 from the one’s
complement.
(3) The original number can be obtained by calculating the one’s complement of the
two’s complement and then adding 1 to it.
A. (1) only
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B. (2) only
C. (1) and (3) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

P03M015
Which of the following statements about sign-and-magnitude is/are correct?
(1) The leftmost bit is the sign bit.
(2) Some systems use the rightmost bit as the sign bit.
(3) There are two binary representations of zero.
A. (1) only
B. (1) and (2) only
C. (1) and (3) only
D. (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

P03M016
Convert B6D16 into a denary number.
A. 1173
B. 1119
C. 2925
D. 3182
Answer
C

P03M017
3 GB = ___________________
A. 3,072 Kb
B. 3,072 KB
C. 24,576 Mb
D. 24,576 MB
Answer
C

P03M018
Assume that there are 53 characters for a certain language. How many bits are needed to
represent those characters?
© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 5 NSS ICT Compulsory Question Bank
A. 5 bits
B. 6 bits
C. 53 bits
D. 253 bits
Answer
B

P03M019
Which of the following character coding systems can be used to represent all the existing
languages in the world?
A. ASCII
B. EBCDIC
C. Big5
D. Unicode
Answer
D

P03M020
Big5 code is mainly used to represent ________________.
A. traditional Chinese
B. simplified Chinese
C. both traditional and simplified Chinese
D. Japanese
Answer
A

P03M021
In ASCII code, how many bits are used to represent a character?
A. 7 bits
B. 32 bits
C. 128 bits
D. 256 bits
Answer
A

P03M022
Which of the following numbers is not equal to 1AB16?

A. 1101010112

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B. 6528

C. 42710

D. All of the above

Answer
B

P03M023
How many digits does hexadecimal number system use to represent numbers?
A. 2
B. 8
C. 10
D. 16
Answer
D

P03M024
The decimal representation of 3B4F16 is ___________________.
A. 1518310
B. 1432010
C. 2568210
D. 3562110
Answer
A

P03M025
How many KB are there in 4 MB?
A. 400 KB
B. 1,024 KB
C. 2,048 KB
D. 4,096 KB
Answer
D

P03M026
How many bits are needed to store a combination of 42 characters?
A. 4 bits
B. 5 bits
C. 6 bits
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D. 7 bits
Answer
C

P03M027
Which of the following denary numbers is equal to 100102?
A. 10,010
B. 18
C. 17
D. 11
Answer
B

P03M028
Which of the following hexadecimal numbers is equal to 79110?
A. 31716
B. 71316
C. 3116
D. 1316
Answer
A

P03M029
Which of the following hexadecimal numbers is equal to 111112?
A. 516
B. 15116
C. 3116
D. 1F16
Answer
D

P03M030
The most commonly used code for simplified Chinese characters is __________.
A. Big5 code
B. GB code
C. Unicode
D. ASCII
Answer
B
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Short Questions

P03S001
(a) Convert 45810 into the corresponding binary number. Show your steps.
(3 marks)
(b) Convert A7F16 into the corresponding denary number. Show your steps.
(2 marks)
(c) Convert 3C16 into the corresponding binary number.
(1 mark)

Answer
(a)
2 458 …... 0
2 229 …... 1
2 114 …... 0
2 57 …... 1
2 28 …... 0
2 14 …... 0
2 7 …... 1
2 3 …... 1
1
(Steps: 2)
45810 = 1110010102 (1)
(b) A7F16 = 10×162 + 7×161 + 15×160 (1) = 268710 (1)
(c) 3C16 = 001111002 (1)

P03S002
(a) (i) List three coding systems that can represent Chinese characters.
(3 marks)
(ii) How many bits are used for each character in the coding systems mentioned in part
(a) (i)?
(1 mark)
(b) Explain why ASCII coding system cannot represent Chinese characters.
(2 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) Unicode, (1) Big5 code, (1) and GB code (1)

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 (ii) 16 bits (1)
(b) ASCII coding system can only support 8-bit characters, i.e. only 256 different characters
are included. (1) However, there are more than 10,000 commonly used Chinese
characters, so ASCII coding system cannot support Chinese characters. (1)

P03S003
Complete the following table about measurement units.

Unit Denary representation Binary representation

M (iii) (v)

(i) 109 230

(ii) (iv) 240

K 103 (vi)
(6 marks)
Answer
(i) G (1)
(ii) T (1)
(iii) 106 (1)
(iv) 1012 (1)
(v) 220 (1)
(vi) 210 (1)

P03S004
Complete the following table about character coding systems.

System The number of bits being used Characteristic

Support both simplified and

(i) (v)
traditional Chinese characters.

Support simplified Chinese

(ii) 16
characters mainly.

Support traditional Chinese

(iii) 16
characters mainly.

(iv) 8 Support English characters mainly.

Standar
(vi) Support English characters mainly.
d ASCII
(6 marks)

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Answer
(i) Unicode (1)
(ii) GB code (1)
(iii) Big5 code (1)
(iv) Extended ASCII (1)
(v) 16 (1)
(vi) 7 (1)

P03S005
Given a binary number 010110112.
(a) (i) Find the one’s complement of the number above.
(1 mark)
(ii) Find the two’s complement of the number above.
(1 mark)
Given that the two’s complement of a number is 101001012.
(b) Find the original number.
(2 marks)
(c) Discuss the main characteristic of two’s complement with respect to the results of part (a)
and (b).
(2 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) 101001002 (1)
(ii) 101001012 (1)
(b) One’s complement: 010110102 (1)
Original number: 010110112 (1)
(c) We can convert the two’s complement of a number into the original number by the same
mechanism. (2)

P03S006
(a) State one application of the binary, denary and hexadecimal number systems
respectively.
(3 marks)
(b) Convert 11011001001001112 into the corresponding hexadecimal number.
(2 marks)
(c) When the codes of certain characters in the Unicode coding system are being displayed
on a visual display unit, which number system is used usually?
(1 mark)
Answer
(a) Binary: internal processing of a computer (1)
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 Denary: commonly used in calculations in our daily life (1)
Hexadecimal: compact form of binary numbers, easier for humans to handle applications
using binary numbers (1)
(b) D92716 (2)
(c) Hexadecimal number system (1)

P03S007

Answer the following questions regarding the subtraction 35216–A916.

(a) Perform the above subtraction directly. Show your steps.
(3 marks)
(b) Perform the above subtraction by converting the numbers into binary numbers first. Show
your steps.
(3 marks)

Answer
(a)

3 -1 5 -1 2

– A 9

2 A 9
(Steps: 2)
35216 – A916 = 2A916 (1)
(b) 35216 = 11010100102 A916 = 101010012 (1)

1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 1 - 0
1 1 1 1

– 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1

1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
(Steps: 1)
35216 – A916 = 2A916 (1)

P03S008
Answer the following questions regarding the denary number 43410.
(a) Convert the above number into the corresponding hexadecimal number. Show your steps.
(2 marks)
(b) (i) Convert the above number into the corresponding binary number. Show
your steps.
(3 marks)

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 (ii) Convert the answer of part (b) (i) into the corresponding hexadecimal number.
(1 mark)
Answer
(a)
16 434 …… 2
16 27 ……11
1
(Steps: 1)
43410 = 1B216 (1)
(b) (i)
2 434 …… 0
2 217 …… 1
2 108 …… 0
2 54 …… 0
2 27 …… 1
2 13 …… 1
2 6 …… 0
2 3 …… 1
1

(Steps: 2)
43410 = 1101100102 (1)
(ii) 43410 = 1B216 (1)

Long Questions

P03L001
Peter has bought a 640 GB hard disk.
(a) (i) Express G in denary representation.
(1 mark)
(ii) Express G in binary representation.
(1 mark)
Peter then connects the hard disk to his computer. Although the label on the hard disk indicates
that the storage capacity is 640 GB which is different from the value shown in the operating
system.
(b) (i) State the cause of the discrepancy.
(2 marks)
(ii) Estimate the value shown in the operating system.
(2 marks)
(iii) State another storage device that has a similar problem.

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 (2 marks)
Some hard disks have storage capacities larger than 1 TB.
(c) (i) What is the ratio of T to G? State the answers in both denary and binary
representation.
(2 marks)
(ii) Apart from storage capacity, give one merit of the hard disk with a storage capacity
of 2 TB over that of 80 GB. Explain your answer briefly. You can assume that they
have the same number of platters.
(2 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) 109 (1)
(ii) 230 (1)
(b) (i) Denary representation is used for the value shown on the label (1) while binary
representation is used in the operating system. (1)

(ii) (2) = 596 GB (1)

(iii) USB flash drive (1)

(c) (i) Denary: 1,000:1 (1)
Binary: 1,024:1 (1)
(ii) The hard disk with a storage capacity of 2 TB has shorter data access time (1) since
the density of data blocks is much higher. (1)

P03L002
In Hong Kong, the user interfaces of most operating systems use Traditional Chinese
characters.
(a) (i) Which coding system is used usually?
(1 mark)
(ii) If an application designed with simplified Chinese characters is installed on a
computer with the above operating system, what undesirable consequence may
occur?
(2 marks)
(iii) Without changing the operating system, how can the problem mentioned in part (a)
(ii) be tackled?
(2 marks)
Sara wants to learn a Chinese input method.
(b) (i) She asks you whether Unicode is a suitable input method for her to learn. What is
your opinion? Explain briefly.
(2 marks)
(ii) Some of her friends suggest her learning Chang-jei Input Method. State one
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 advantage and one disadvantage of Chang-jei Input Method.
(2 marks)
(iii) State one Chinese input method that is highly related to Chang-jei Input Method.
Describe briefly the relationship between this input method and Chang-jei Input
Method.
(3 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) Big5 coding system (1)
(ii) The characters displayed in the application may not be recognizable. (1) Therefore
the application cannot be used properly. (1)
(iii) A conversion program can be installed (1) so that the application can display the
characters properly through the conversion program. (1)
(b) (i) She should not learn Unicode (1) since the codes are hard for humans to remember.
(1)
(ii) Advantage: Most Chinese operating systems have Chang-jei Input Method installed.
(1)
Disadvantage: It takes quite a long time to understand all the rules. (1)
(iii) Simplified Chang-jei Input Method / Quick Input Method (any one × 1)
The lengths of the codes of Chang-jei Input Method range from 1 to 5 (1) while each
code of Quick Input Method only consists of the first and the last keys of the
corresponding code of Chang-jei Input Method. (1)

P03L003
Regarding the Standard ASCII coding system,
(a) (i) How many bits are used for the code of each character?
(1 mark)
(ii) How many characters can the system represent?
(1 mark)
Regarding the Extended ASCII coding system,
(b) (i) How many bits are used for the code of each character?
(1 mark)
(ii) How many characters can the system represent?
(1 mark)
(c) The Extended ASCII character set was established by adding new characters to the
Standard ASCII character set. State two other types of characters that were added in the
Extended ASCII character set.
(2 marks)
(d) (i) List three coding systems that support Chinese characters.
(3 marks)
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 (ii) Which coding system mentioned in part (d) (i) is the best? State two reasons to
support your answer.
(3 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) 7 bits (1)
(ii) 128 (1)
(b) (i) 8 bits (1)
(ii) 256 (1)
(c) Special graphic characters (1) and foreign characters other than English characters (1)
(d) (i) Unicode, (1) Big5 code (1) and GB code (1)
(ii) Unicode (1)
It includes both traditional and simplified Chinese characters (1) and it is accepted
internationally. (1)

P03L004
(a) (i) Convert 3D816 into the corresponding binary number.
(1 mark)
(ii) Convert 110001010002 into the corresponding hexadecimal number.
(1 mark)
(b) (i) Which number system is used by computer systems?
(1 mark)
(ii) Describe how hexadecimal numbers are used in the IT field.
(1 mark)
Mary needs to convert 38110 into the corresponding hexadecimal number manually. She finds
that it tends to induce mistakes if the conversion is made directly.
(c) (i) Suggest another way of conversion that is less likely to induce mistakes.
(2 marks)
(ii) Perform the conversion using the method mentioned in part (c) (i).
(3 marks)
(d) (i) How do CPUs perform subtractions usually?
(1 mark)
(ii) Calculate 010010112 – 001001112.
(2 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) 11110110002 (1)
(ii) 62816 (1)
(b) (i) Binary (1)
(ii) Hexadecimal numbers can be used to display binary numbers in a more compact and
readable form. (1)
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(c) (i) First, convert the denary number into the corresponding binary number. (1)
Then, convert the binary number into the corresponding hexadecimal number. (1)

(ii)
2 381 …… 1
2 190 …… 0
2 95 …… 1
2 47 …… 1
2 23 …… 1
2 11 …… 1
2 5 …… 1
2 2 ...… 0
1 (Steps: 1)

38110 = 1011111012 (1) = 17D16 (1)

(d) (i) Two’s complement (1)
(ii) One’s complement of 001001112 = 110110002

Two’s complement of 001001112 = 110110012 (1)

010010112 – 001001112 = 010010112 + 110110012 = 1001001002

= 001001002 (The rightmost bit is omitted.) (1)

P03L005
Xiao Ling, a PRC citizen, uses a simplified Chinese operating system. One of her Hong Kong
friends has sent a Chinese document to her through e-mail. She finds that the document is not
readable.
(a) (i) State one possible cause of the problem.
(2 marks)
(ii) Suggest one way to cope with the problem.
(2 marks)
Later, she browses a Hong Kong web page, she finds that the Chinese characters displayed are
unrecognizable.
(b) (i) State one possible cause of the problem.
(2 marks)
(ii) How can the problem be solved?
(1 mark)
Inside a computer system, negative binary numbers are stored in either sign and magnitude or
two’s complement approaches. Assume that an 8-bit memory unit is used.
(c) (i) What is the range of numbers that can be represented by sign and magnitude?
(1 mark)
(ii) What is the range of numbers that can be represented by two’s complement?

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 17 NSS ICT Compulsory Question Bank
 (1 mark)
(iii) Why are the ranges mentioned in part (c) (i) and part (c) (ii) different?
(2 marks)
(iv) Which approach is widely used nowadays?
(1 mark)

Answer
(a) (i) Her operating system uses the GB coding system (1) but the codes of the characters
in the document are from the Big5 coding system. (1)
(ii) She can install a conversion program (1) which converts the Big5 characters into the
corresponding GB characters. (1)
(b) (i) The Chinese characters of the web page should be in the Big5 character set (1) but
the default character set of the web page has not been defined to be Big5 code. (1)
(ii) She should change the encoding system of the web browser to Big5 or another
suitable encoding system. (1)
(c) (i) –12710 to 12710 (1)
(ii) –12810 to 12710 (1)
(iii) There are two zeros (000000002 and 100000002) in the sign and magnitude scheme
(1) but 100000002 represents –12810 in the two’s complement scheme. (1)
(iv) Two’s complement (1)

P03L006
Miu Miu has taken 85 video files using a digital video camera. Assume the file size of each
video is 40 MB. She wants to copy all the video files to her computer. The remaining storage
space of the hard disk is 3 GB.
(a) (i) Express GB in terms of MB.
(1 mark)
(ii) She wonders whether there is enough space for storing the video files. What do you
think? Explain your answer briefly.
(3 marks)
(iii) If the hard disk does not have enough storage space left, suggest two methods that
can deal with this problem.
(2 marks)
Afterwards, she buys some CD-ROMs and wants to back up the video files to the CD-ROMs.
The labelled capacity of each CD-ROM is 700 MB.
(b) (i) In the beginning, she thinks that five CD-ROMs will be enough to store all the video
files. Explain briefly, with appropriate calculations, why she thinks this was the
case.
(2 marks)
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 (ii) After she has started to burn the files onto the CD-ROMs, she found that five CD-
ROMs are not enough to store all the video files. State the reason of the problem by
showing your calculations.
(4 marks)

Answer
(a) (i) 1 GB = 1,024 MB (1)
(ii) File size of all the video files = 85  40 MB (1) = 3,400 MB (1)
Since 3,400 MB = 3.32 GB > 3 GB, there is not enough space. (1)
(iii) Install another hard disk. (1)
Compress the current hard disk. (1)
(b) (i) Capacity of five CD-ROMs = 5  700 MB (1) = 3,500 MB > 3,400 MB (1)
Hence, 5 CD-ROMs should be enough.
(ii) Although each CD-ROM is labelled to have 700 MB storage capacity, the value is
measured in denary representation, (1) while the file sizes of the video files are
measured in binary representation. (1)
By showing the storage capacities of the CD-ROMs in binary representation,
the storage capacity of five CDs

= (1) = 3,338 MB < 3,400 MB (1)

Hence, there is not enough storage capacity in reality.

P03L007
Study the following setting of a web browser.

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(a) What codes has been used in the above web page?
(1 mark)
(b) If the user has chosen ‘Chinese Traditional’ as the coding, what will happen?
(1 mark)
(c) If the user has chosen ‘Chinese Simplified’ as the coding, what will happen?
(1 mark)
(d) If the user is unsure about the type of codes used, what should he or she do to view the
web page? Suggest two feasible methods.
(2 marks)
(e) State one character coding system for simplified Chinese.
(1 mark)
(f) In order to display a Big5 character, how many bits are needed?
(2 marks)
(g) Why cannot ASCII be used to represent Chinese characters?
(2 marks)
(h) If the number of bits stated in part (f) is used, how many characters can be represented?
(2 marks)
Answer
(a) Unicode (1)
(b) Strange and meaningless characters appear. (1)
(c) Strange and meaningless characters appear. (1)
(d) Use ‘Auto-Select’. (1)
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 Try to use different coding, until the text can be seen. (1)
(e) GB code (1)
(f) 16 bits (2)
(g) ASCII contains only 128 characters (1) which are not enough for representing all Chinese
words. (1)
(h) 216 = 65,536 (2)

P03L008
(a) State the definitions of ‘bit’ and ‘byte’.

(2 marks)

(b) How many bytes are needed to store the following data?

(i) A Chinese character ‘光’

(1 mark)

(ii) An English letter ‘K’

(1 mark)

(iii) A string ‘香港特別行政區’

(1 mark)

(iv) A string ‘Tsim Sha Tsui’

(1 mark)

(c) Find the number of bytes needed to store the following numbers. Show all steps in your
calculation.
(i) 110012

(2 marks)

(ii) 56410

(2 marks)

(iii) C7AB16

(2 marks)

Answer

(a) A bit is the basic unit for storing data on a computer. (1) A byte consists of 8 bits. (1)

(b) (i) 2 bytes (1)

(ii) 1 byte (1)

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 (iii) 14 bytes (1)

(iv) 13 bytes (1)

(c) (i) 110012 = 000110012 (1)

It needs 1 byte. (1)

(ii) 56410 = 00000010001101002 (1)

It needs 2 bytes. (1)

(iii) C7AB16 = 11000111101010112 (1)

It needs 2 bytes. (1)

P03L009
A country’s identity (ID) card number is composed of 7 decimal digits, in which the rightmost
digit is known as the check digit.

(a) (i) How many different ID card numbers can be formed in this way?
(1 mark)
(ii) What is the purpose of the check digit?
(1 mark)
(iii) Check digit is one of the methods for data validation. Other than check digit, give two
examples of data validation.
(2 marks)
The check digit X7 is calculated in the following way:
Step 1: Calculate the sum of X1 to X6.
Step 2: Divide the sum by a specific positive integer Y and record the remainder.
Step 3: Assign the remainder to the check digit X7.

Some students suggest that the value of Y should be 2 while others suggest that it should be 7
instead.
(b) (i) If the value of Y can only be either 2 or 7, which value is better? Explain your
answer briefly.
(2 marks)
(ii) Could we set 13 as the value of Y? Explain your answer briefly.
(2 marks)

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 22 NSS ICT Compulsory Question Bank
Finally, the government decides to set the value of Y as 9.
(c) Check whether ‘1234567’ is a valid ID number. Show all the steps in your calculation.
(2 marks)

A person fills an application form illegibly so that the others cannot read the entries of his ID
card number clearly. The ID card number is shown as follows:
165X420
‘X’ is the digit that cannot be identified.
(d) Find the value of X from the information above.
(2 marks)
Answer
(a) (i) 106 (1)
(ii) The check digit is added at the end of the actual number. It is used to ensure the
input number is valid. (1)
(iii) Type check / range check / field length check / format check (any two × 1)
(b) (i) 7 (1)
If 2 were used for the value of Y, it would more easily to miss the input errors in
examining the check digit. It is because the check digit would be either 1 or 0, so
that the wrong inputs may have a valid check digit. (1)
(ii) No. (1)
The remainder may have double-digit when the sum is divided by 13. In the above
case, the check digit must be a single digit. (1)
(c) No. (1)
Calculations: (1)
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 21
…3
3 7
(d) 0 (1) or 9 (1)

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2009 23 NSS ICT Compulsory Question Bank