GST105 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE 2018/2019

LECTURE NOTE (PART 4)

INFORMATION REPRESENTATION IN COMPUTERS

Just as humans have languages with which they communicate, computers have a language that
they work with; the Binary number system. Binary as a mathematical number system is a way
of counting comprising of two numbers, 0 and 1. Our conventional way of counting is in tens,
that is, the decimal number system, probably because we have ten fingers to represent ten
numbers. In the same context, the computer is made up of switches which have only two states;
ON and OFF in which it represents information.

Electricity can flow through switches: if the switch is closed, the electricity flows; if the switch
is open, the electricity does not flow. To process real-world data in the computer, we need a
way to represent the data in switches. Computers do this representation using a binary coding
system. Information that can be represented in a computer include characters, integers, fixed
point and floating point numbers, pictures, videos, sounds and programs.

BITS, BYTES, NIBBLES AND CHARACTERS

The word bit is a short form of binary digit. It's a single digit in a binary number and it can be
either 1 or 0.
Bits are the building blocks for all information processing in computers.
For a sequence of two bits, we have four possible values (00, 01, 10, 11).
For a sequence of 3 bits, we have 8 possible values (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111).
This implies that for n-bits, we would have 2n possible values.

 A byte is a unit of information built from bits; one byte equals 8 bits.
Bytes are combined into groups of 1 to 8 bytes called words.
A byte is a sequence of 8 bits, i.e., 28 = 256 possible different values for a byte.
A single byte can represent many different kinds of data. What data it actually represents
depends on how the computer uses the byte.

 A nibble is half a byte, which is a grouping of 4 bits.

 Characters: A character is any number, letter or symbols that a computer recognises.

Numbers such as 1, 2, 3.4, 5000…, letters or alphabets in any language or special symbols such
as !, ”, £, %, ^, &, * are all characters. The computer uses a byte (8 bits) to represent a single
character. Every computer has a defined set of characters which they can recognise known as
the character set. For a computer to be able to store and process any character, the character
must be stored using a unique binary value called a character code. For example the number
code for the character ‘a’ could be decimal 97 and a ‘space’ character could be 32. When a
character is stored on a computer system it is therefore the number code that is actually stored
as a binary number.

There are a number of standards across the globe for character codes. The code called ASCII
(pronounced "AS-key"), which stands for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange, uses 7 bits for each character. Since there are exactly 128 unique combinations
of 7 bits, this 7-bit code can represent only characters. A more common version is ASCII-8,
also called extended ASCII, which uses 8 bits per character and can represent 256 different
characters. For example, the letter C is represented by the decimal value 67.

Other codes include the ANSI (American National Standards Institute), Unicode, EBCDIC etc.

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LECTURE NOTE (PART 4)

THE NUMBER SYSTEMS

In the early days, humans did not have a great need to count things, they made use of words
like “little” or “lots”. They used items like stones to count the number or sheep, trees or other
items.

As languages developed, humans began using symbols and words for numbers. The Chinese
as early as 1400BC introduced a bamboo stick decimal numbering system and developed the
abacus on this system.
Later these designations were replaced in the west by the Hindu Arabic symbols for 1 through
9. But the concept of zero which the Chinese used blank space for was replaced with the symbol
0 in the Hindu-Arabic system, making it ten symbols, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The reason for
the use of ten symbols by the Hindu-Arabic system is clearly because of humans having 10(ten)
fingers on their two hands.
This explains why the Hindu-Arabic system, that is, the decimal system is the commonest
numeral system. It is the modern human counting system which is based on grouping of tens
and it is called base-10, the base-10 system uses ten different numeral symbols (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9,) to represent all numbers.
The Yuki Indians of California used a base-8 numeral system; instead of basing their system
on the number of human fingers, they used the spaces between the human fingers. Also the
Ancient Mayans used a base-20 system. They counted with the digits on their hands and feet
because they lived in a hot climate where people didn’t wear closed toe shoes.

We can also count in numbers larger than ten. If we count in sixteen, the digits are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, with A = 10, B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, F = 15. The largest
digit is F. Other letters can also be used to denote numbers greater than 10 besides A, B, C, D,
E, F.

The following bases are common in computing:

i) Decimal or denary (Base 10)
ii) Binary or Bicimal (Base 2)
iii) Octal (Base 8)
iv) Hexadecimal (Base 16)

A number can be converted from one base to another.

 The Decimal Number System (Base 10)
The decimal system is a number system to the base ten and it consists of the following digits;
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. It is the commonest number system. Its importance is evident in the
monetary system of countries like Nigeria and other West African countries. In Nigeria, we
talk about Naira and Kobo, with ten kobo coin, forty kobo coin, one naira coin, fifty-five naira
etc. The decimal system counts in base 10.

 The Binary Number System (Base 2)

The binary system has two as its base. The digits in base two are 0 and 1. Computers are built
on the mechanism of a two way device system, such a system allows one to choose from two
alternatives.

Examples of a two-way device systems are

a) Yes or No questions
b) True or false statements
c) Switch on or off in electrical circuit.

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In such a system like on or off, of an electrical appliance, one cannot have “neither on nor off”,
it must be “on or off”, in such case base two comes into play where 0 may stand for OFF and
1 may be for ON.
The binary system and other extensions of the binary system are used in computing since data
is represented inside the computer in arrays of 0s and 1s only. Inside the computer, pulses of
electricity represent data by combination of 0s and 1s. Most often 1 denotes circuits which are
On and 0 for a circuit which is Off.
To show that a number is binary, the binary number is followed with a little 2 (as subscript).

 The Octal Number System (Base 8)

This number system consists of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
We normally write the base of a number as a subscript. Example 3468 , 11002 , 41506. Letters
can also be used instead, giving 346eight , 1100two , 4150six .
346eight is read “three – four – six in base 8”.

 Hexadecimal System (Base 16)

A hexadecimal system uses sixteen as its base. The hexadecimal systems have the following
digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F where A, B, C, D, E, F correspond to 10, 11,
12, 13, 14, 15.

CONVERSION FROM ONE BASE TO ANOTHER

 Conversion from an Arbitrary Base to Base Ten

A number system in any base can be converted to base ten by using expanded notation and
Repeated/ Extended multiplication. This course will treat just the expanded notation.

Example
Convert each of the following numbers in the given base to base ten.
a) 5368 (b) 110112 (c) 12435 (d) B3AC16

Solution
a) 5368
Using the expanded notation
5368 = 5 x 82 + 3 x 81 + 6 x 80
= 5 x 64 + 3 x 8 + 6 x 1
= 320 + 24 + 6 = 350ten

b) 110112
Using expanded notation
110112 = 1 x 24 + 1 x 23 + 0 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 1 x 20
= 1 x 16 + 1 x 8 + 0 x 4 + 1 x 2 + 1 x 1
= 16 + 8 + 0 + 2 + 1
= 27ten

Using expanded notation

c) 12435 = 1 x 53 + 2 x 52 + 4 x 51 + 3 x 50
= 1 x 125 + 2 x 25 + 4 x 5 + 3 x 1
= 125 + 50 + 20 + 3
= 198ten

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Using the expanded notation

d) B3AC16 = 11x163 + 3 x 162 + 10 x 161 + 12 x 160
= 11 x 4096 + 3 x 256 + 10 x 16 + 12 x 1
= 45056 + 768 + 160 + 12 = 45996ten

 Conversion from Base Ten to Binary (Base Two)

To change a number from base ten to base two, one can use any of the following approaches;
i) The method of successive division
ii) Use of the correct place values in base two

In method of successive division, 2 is used to continuously divide the base ten number and the
remainders collected from downwards. The division ends when the divisor (2) becomes greater
than the dividend, in this case the quotient is zero and the remainder becomes the last dividend.

The other method, the use of the correct place values in base two, involves choosing the
appropriate powers of 2 which when added, gives the number in base ten.
This course treats just the method of successive division.

Example: Convert the following base ten numbers into base two using the methods of
successive divisions.

i) 17 (ii) 75 (iii) 324

Solution
Using the method of successive division
2 17
2 8R1
2 4R0
2 2R0
2 1R0 10001two
0R1

ii) Using the method of successive division

2 75
2 37 R 1
2 18 R 1
2 9 R0
2 4 R1
2 2 R0
2 1 R0 1001011two
0 R1

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iii) Using the method of successive division

2 324
2 162R0
2 81 R 0
2 40 R 1
2 20 R 0
2 10 R 0
2 5 R0
2 2 R1
2 1R 0 = 101000100two
0R 1

 Conversion from Base Ten to Any base other than Base Two
The change a whole number in base ten to any other base outside base two, the method of
successive division is used.

Example:
Convert the following base ten numbers to the indicated base in bracket
i) 75 (base five) (ii) 73 (base eight)
iii) 324 (base sixteen) (iv) 96 (base six)

Solution
Using the method of successive division in each case
i)
5 73
5 14 R 3
5 2R4 = 243five
0R2

ii)
8 73
8 9R3
8 1R1 = 111eight
0R1

iii)
16 324
16 20R 4
16 1R4
0R1 = 144sixteen

iv)
6 96
6 16 R 0 = 240six
6 2R4
0R2

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 Conversion from a non-denary base to another non-denary base

To convert from a number which is not in base ten to another which is also not in base, one has
to first convert to base ten (which serves as a link or standard base) before converting to the
required base. For base two, eight and sixteen inter conversion, this may be time wasting
because there is a relationship among them, so we have a shorter approach for the conversions
among these bases.

Example: (a) Change 134five to base two (b) Change 3245six to base 9.

Solution
a) 134five is first converted to base ten using the expanded notation
1345 = 1 x 52 + 3 x 51 + 4 x 50
= 1 x 25 + 3 x 5 + 4 x 1
= 44ten
Now 44ten is converted to base 2 using successive division
2 44
2 22 R 0
2 11 R 0
2 5 R1
2 2 R1
2 1 R0
= 101100two
0 R1
 134five = 101100two

b) 3245six is first converted to base ten

3245six = 3 x 63 + 2 x 62 + 4 x 61 + 5 x 60
= 3 x 216 + 2 x 36 + 4 x 6 + 5 x 1
= 648 + 72 + 24 + 5
= 739ten
Now 739ten is converted to base 9
9 739
9 82 R 1
9 9R1
9 1R0 = 10119
0 R1

 3245six = 10119