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The short answer is that it's cheaper. Base 2 (binary) is the most primitive form of numeric notation there is and it is extremely simple to implement using a bewildering array of mediums. For example, a switch is either on or off; a capacitor has a sufficient charge or it does not; polarised particles are either positively or negatively charged; a punch card has a hole at a given position or it does not; a DVD either has a flat or a land; a barcode element either reflects light or it absorbs light; and so on.

While it is certainly possible to implement a digital computer using a numeric base other than base 2, the complexity (and the cost!) of interpreting those bases increases exponentially. Polarised digital states (yes/no, true/false, on/off, black/white, positive/negative) are extremely simple to detect and represent because there are only 2 possible states and 1 threshold per digit. More importantly, switching from any one state to any other state is a constant time operation.

Consider the capacitor: it either has sufficient charge or it does not, but it must be refreshed at regular intervals in order to maintain state (if we don't refresh often enough, a full charge will drain away in just a few milliseconds resulting in a misread digit). But if the specific level of charge actually indicated a digit in the range 0 to 9 we'd not only need much larger capacitors to cover the range with comfortable margins of error between refreshes, we'd also need extremely precise transistors to both read and refresh the charge. The more digits we represent per capacitor, the more complex it becomes.

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What are the differences between binary signaling and digital signaling?

Binary refers to a system which may have one of two states. In computer science the binary numbering system is used where stored and communicated values are represented by 0 and 1. A digital signaling system would be based on an underlying stream of binary numbers so in most cases the two would be used interchangeably. If "binary signaling" where to be taken literally however it would describe a signaling system which communicates two possible states. The flag on a mailbox is a binary communication system, when the flag is up it signals that mail is available for pickup, when it is down there is nothing in the mailbox.


What was the earliest computer languages and were they Binary Code FORTRAN COBOL.?

The oldest computer language is machine code and all computer languages are binary encoded. It's unavoidable on binary machines.


How is the two's complement representation used?

The "twos complement" is that marvelous manipulation of bits in computer binary code that allows the computer to subtact by adding. It would be difficult to explain the whole picture, but computers can really do nothing but add. So the natural question is, how do they then calculate differences? Two's complement is the answer.


What is the binary code for B?

That depends what you mean by "B", and what you mean by "binary code" assuming that by "binary code", you actually mean a binary representation of it's ascii value, then the answer is 1000010. The ascii value of the character "B" is 66 in decimal, which is 1000010 is that value in binary. If on the other hand, you mean "what is the binary value of the hexidecimal number B?", then the answer is 1011.


Canonical signed digit number representation of a binary number?

is it possible to apply CSD to bough wooley multiplier

Related Questions

What are the differences between binary signaling and digital signaling?

Binary refers to a system which may have one of two states. In computer science the binary numbering system is used where stored and communicated values are represented by 0 and 1. A digital signaling system would be based on an underlying stream of binary numbers so in most cases the two would be used interchangeably. If "binary signaling" where to be taken literally however it would describe a signaling system which communicates two possible states. The flag on a mailbox is a binary communication system, when the flag is up it signals that mail is available for pickup, when it is down there is nothing in the mailbox.


What is the binary representation of the hexadecimal number 3D9?

The binary representation is : 1111011001


What is the binary representation of the keyword "129" in decimal?

The binary representation of the keyword "129" in decimal is 10000001.


What is data codes and internal representation in computer?

Data is internally represented in binary form in what we call machine language.


When you input to the computer anything than what is the computer processing?

When you input something, you are doing it in English or french or any preferred language but the computer just understands binary language. So, when we input something the computer is processing that piece of instruction into binary language and after that is sending you the output.


What is the use of ASCII in computer system?

ASCII is the representation of Binary Digits (0 & 1s) which are interpreted by Processor as meaningful data.


What is the significance of a normalized binary number in computer science and how is it used in data representation?

A normalized binary number in computer science is important because it represents a standardized format for storing and manipulating numbers. It is used in data representation to ensure consistency and efficiency in calculations and operations. By normalizing binary numbers, computers can perform arithmetic operations more accurately and efficiently, making it easier to process and manipulate data.


Why you are using binary integer representation?

I am not!


How many zeros are present in the binary representation of 51 5?

11111111=255 'o' zeroes are present in the binary representation of 51x5


Binary representation of 0xCA?

The hexadecimal value 0xCA can be converted to binary by converting each hex digit to its 4-bit binary equivalent. The hex digit 'C' corresponds to the binary 1100, and 'A' corresponds to 1010. Therefore, the binary representation of 0xCA is 11001010.


What is the binary representation of 4?

4 = 100


What is the binary representation of 13?

1310 = 11012