Read Binary
Trying to read a string of binary 1's and 0's can seem a daunting task. However, with a bit of logic we can figure out what they mean. Humans have adapted to use a base ten number system simply because we have ten fingers. Computers, on the other hand (no pun intended), have only two "fingers"--on and off or one and zero. Therefore, the base two number system has been created.
Contents
Steps
With Exponents
- Find a binary number you want to convert. We'll use this as an example: 101010.
- Multiply each binary digit by two to the power of its place number. Remember, binary is read from right to left. The rightmost place number being zero.
- Add all the results together. Let's go from right to left.
- 0 × 20 = 0
- 1 × 21 = 2
- 0 × 22 = 0
- 1 × 23 = 8
- 0 × 24 = 0
- 1 × 25 = 32
- Total = 42
Alternative Format with Exponents
- Pick a binary number. Let's use 101. Here is the same method but in a slightly different format. You may find this format easier to understand.
- 101= (1X2) power of 2 + (0X2) power of 1 + (1X2) power 0
- 101= (2X2) + (0X0) + (1)
- 101= 4 + 0 + 1
- 101= 5
- The 'zero' is not a number, but its place value must be noted.
Slot Value
- Find your number. The example we'll use is 00101010.
- Read from right to left. With each slot, the values are doubled. The first digit from the right has a value of 1, the second is a 2, then a 4, and so on.
- Add the values of the ones. The zeros are assigned their correlating number, but those numbers are not added.
- So, in this example, add 2, 8, and 32. The result is 42.
- There is a 'no' on 1, a 'yes' on 2, a 'no' on 4, a 'yes' on 8, a 'no' on 16, a 'yes' on 32, a 'no' on 64 and a 'no' on 128. "Yes" means to add, "no" is to skip. You can stop at the last one-digit.
- So, in this example, add 2, 8, and 32. The result is 42.
- Translate the value into letters or punctuation marks. In addition, you can convert numbers from binary to decimal or convert from decimal to binary.
- In punctuation marks, the 42 equals an asterisk (*). Click here for a chart.
Video
Tips
- Binary counts just like normal numbers. The rightmost digit increments by one until it cannot increase any more (in this case from 0 to 1) and then increments the next digit to the left by one and starts again at zero.
- The numbers we deal with today have a place value. Assuming we are working with whole numbers, the right-most digit is the one's place, the next right-most digit is the ten's place, then hundred's, and so on. The place value for binary numbers go from one's, two's, four's, eight's, and so on.
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