How to read Binary

The wonderful world of 1's and 0's.

What this tutorial will cover:
How to convert NUMBERS(No text) to binary and vice versa.

What is binary?
Binary is a way to show whole numbers using only 1 and 0.


In a 8 bit system there is 8 binary numbers...


To increase the bit count just continue to multiply the latest number with 2.


We start at 1, then we multiply the number, the amount of places*
in the sequence represents how many Bits the system is.

* by places i mean:
this has 4 places: 1 2 3 4
this has 8 places: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
understand now?



Convert: Binary --> Numbers
We are going to covert the 8 bit binary string: 10011101

we need to set up a table:
128 - 64 - 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1

Now we fill out the information:

Top: Table
Bottom: Binary Code

If the number has a 1 under it, it means "add this number" if it has a 0 under it, Skip it.

10011101 = 161

Convert: Numbers -> Binary

If you have a half decent brain and know about fractions. then this should be a piece of cake.


In this section we will be converting the value 42
(because its the answer to life, the universe and everything)

we need to set up our table again.

128 - 64 - 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1

Now... can i subtract 128 from 42?
No, then put a 0.

can i subtract 64 from 42?
No put a 0.
We got 00 so far

Now can we subtract 32 from 42?
YES. then put a 1, now we got 001 and the number has been reduced to 10.

Can we subtract 16 from 10?
Nope. put 0.

Can we subtract 8 from 10?
yes, put a 1, now we got 00101 and the number has been reduced to 2.

Can we subtract 4 from 2?
Nope, put 0.

Can we subtract 2 from 2?
Yes, put a 1, we got 0010101 so far. and the number has been reduced to 0.

Now we can fill in the rest with 0's
can we subtract 1 from 0?
No put 0.

The final Binary Code is:
00101010 = 42

If you still don't understand the concept try this video tutorial, made by TheNewBoston(i learned it from here)

And that my friends is how to read and convert binary!
Hope you learned something in this tutorial, have a nice day!


Binary Joke