Page 10 - Computer Genius Class 07
P. 10
A computer ta es data rom a user and produces result as in ormation. Although the ords data
and in ormation are o ten used interchangea ly ut there is an important distinction et een the
t o ords. n the strict sense data consists o the ra num ers that computers organise to produce
in ormation.
From an early age e are introduced to the concept o num ers and counting. Toddlers learn at an
early age that they can carry t o coo ies one in each hand. indergarteners start counting y t os
and fi es. n aria ly e use the decimal num er system. Our num er system is ased on 1 most
li ely ecause e ha e 1 fingers. et us learn more a out the num er system.
Number System
A num er system is a collection o num ers used to descri e arious uantities. There are many
num er systems in e istence. onsider a digital cloc . Digital cloc s ha e 2 hours each hour
composed o minutes. ach minute is in turn composed o seconds. hen you learnt to count
you used the num ers li e 1 2 etc. Similarly computers also ha e their o n num er system
no n as the inary num er system.
The digital computer represents all inds o data and in ormation li e audio graphics ideo
te t and num ers in inary orm. The total num er o digits used in a num er system is called
its base or radix. There ore hen someone says that they are or ing ith num er system o
radi 2 it means ase 2 i.e. inary num er system. The ase is ritten a ter the num er as
su script such as 12 . n this e ample the num er 1 is ritten as the su script to e press
1
the num er in decimal num er system.
The numerical digits e use today i.e. 1 2 and are ased on the indu Ara ic numeral
system.
Different names or the num er include ero nought naught nil ilch and ip.
There are our types o num er systems hich are as ollo s
1. Decimal num er system 2. inary num er system
. Octal num er system . e adecimal num er system
Decimal Number System
The decimal num er system is a standard num er system or denoting num ers. t consists o ten
digits rom to . Only these digits can e used to represent numeric alue in decimal num er system.
ence the ase o decimal num er system is 1 . The decimal num er system is the most idely used
num er system. The alue represented y indi idual digit depends on the eight and position o the
digit.
The position o first digit to ards le t side o the decimal point is . The position o second digit
to ards le t side o the decimal point is 1. Similarly the position o first digit to ards right side o
decimal point is 1. The position o second digit to ards right side o decimal point is 2 and so on.
8 Computer Genius-VII

