What is a binary number system?

The binary system is the second most common after the usual decimal, although few people think about it. The reason for such a demand is that it is used in computer technology. We'll talk about this later, and for starters - a couple of words about what the total number system is.

This phrase denotes a recording system or other visual representation of numbers. This is a dry definition. Unfortunately, not everyone understands what lies behind these words. However, everything is quite simple, and the first numbering system appeared at the same time when a person learned to count. The simplest way to represent numbers is to identify some objects with others, well, at least fingers on their hands and the number of fruits collected in a certain time. However, the fingers on the hands are much smaller than can be counted items. They began to be replaced with chopsticks or dashes on sand or stone. This was the very first number system, although the concept itself appeared much later. It is called non-position, because each digit in it has a strictly defined value, regardless of what position in the record it takes.

But such a record is extremely inconvenient, and later came the idea to group objects and designate each group with a stone, not with a wand, well, or with a drawing of another form when recording. This was the first step toward creating positional systems, which include the binary system of numbers. However, they were formed only after the invention of the numbers. By virtue of the fact that it was more convenient for people to count on fingers, which a normal person has 10, it was the decimal system that became the most common. At the disposal of the person using this system figures, from 0 to 9. Accordingly, when the account reaches 9, that is, exhaust the stock of figures, he writes a unit to the next digit, and the unit zeroes. And this is the essence of positional number systems: the value of numbers in the number directly depends on what position it takes.

The binary number system provides only two digits for calculations, it's easy to guess that it's 0 and 1. Accordingly, new digits for writing appear in this case much more often: the first jump of the register occurs already on the number 2, it is denoted by the binary system as 10.

It is obvious that on the letter this system is also not very convenient, why is it so in demand? The thing is that when building computers, the decimal system turned out to be extremely inconvenient and unprofitable, since the production of a device that has ten different states is quite expensive, and they take up a lot of space. So they took on the arsenal of the binary system invented by the Incas.

Translation into a binary number system is unlikely to cause anyone trouble. The simplest and most understandable way to do this is to divide the number by two, until the answer is zero. In this case, the leftovers are recorded separately from right to left in sequence. Consider, for example, the number 73: 73 \ 2 = 36 and 1 in the remainder, the units are written in the extreme right position, all further remnants are written to the left of this unit. If you did everything right, then you should have the following number: 1001001.

How does the translation of the number into the binary number system is performed by the computer, after all, from the keyboard do we enter the decimal numbers? Really also divides by 2? Naturally, no. Each button on the keyboard corresponds to a specific line in the encoding table. We make a button, a program called a driver, passes a certain sequence of signals to the processor. That in turn passes the query to the table, which symbol corresponds to this sequence, and displays this symbol on the screen, or performs an action, if necessary.

Now you know what value in our life has a binary number system. After all, very much in our world is now done with the help of electronic computing systems, which, in turn, would be completely different, if there was not this system.