Binary Numbers

Date: 12/25/95 at 22:42:18
From: Bruce Zaktzer 
Subject: Binary Number Systems

Dear Dr. Math:

My name is Courtney Zaktzer, I am in 9th grade and I am doing a 
project on Binary Numbers and Systems.

I am having a difficult time finding information about this topic 
and would ask for your help to find information about binary 
numbers.

Thank You,

Courtney Zaktzer

Date: 3/18/96 at 2:9:9
From: Doctor Jodi
Subject: Re: Binary Number Systems

Hi there! 

I think what you're talking about is base two.  Different bases 
are REALLY cool.

One base we use every day is base 60 - can you think of where we 
use it? This is a tradition that the Babylonians left us...

I believe that base 10 was popularized by the Arabs (who gave us 
the numerals currently in use).

Base two is best known for its use in computing:  0 and 1 can 
represent off and on, yes and no, etc.

Any numbers can be written in binary.  Have you learned about this 
yet?

Well, here's a brief intro, just in case...

Here's what Dr. Steve said:

We have ten symbols for counting (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). So what do 
we do when we need to use numbers higher than 9? We make different 
places in our numbers and know that each place has a different 
meaning. The first place is the "ones" place. The second is the 
"tens". The third is the "hundreds" and so on. Each place is ten 
times greater than the one to its right.

       So the number 159 means: 1 hundred + 5 tens + 9 ones
 ----end
			notice:  10^2      10^1       10^0 (aka 1)

in base 2, the places are similar:

Instead of being 100, 10, 1, they are 4(2^2), 2 (2^1), 1 (2^0), 
etc.

So, what does

	1011
mean?	 	

Anyway, write us back with more questions or if you want to know 
more.

-Doctor Jodi,  The Math Forum

Date: 3/18/96 at 9:49:50
From: Bruce Zaktzer 
Subject: Re: Binary Number Systems

All,

Thank you for the information. It arrived just in time to complete 
the project!

CZ