Computer Organization and Architecture, unit: Number Systems and Data Representation. Core concepts, terminology, and worked-example cues a college student meets for this unit, building on prior units without repeating them. Front: a term, concept, or short problem cue. Back: the definition, explanation, or answer.
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- What number system do computers fundamentally use?
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Binary, representing data using only 0s and 1s- What is a bit?
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The smallest unit of data in computing, representing a 0 or 1- What is a byte?
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A group of 8 bits- What is binary (base-2)?
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A number system using only the digits 0 and 1- What is decimal (base-10)?
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The standard number system using digits 0 through 9- What is hexadecimal (base-16)?
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A number system using digits 0 through 9 and letters A through F- Why is hexadecimal commonly used in computing?
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It compactly represents binary values, with each hex digit corresponding to 4 bits- What is octal (base-8)?
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A number system using digits 0 through 7- How is an unsigned binary number converted to decimal?
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By summing the powers of 2 corresponding to each set bit- What is two's complement?
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A method for representing signed integers in binary, allowing subtraction via addition- How is a negative number represented in two's complement?
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By inverting all bits of its positive value and adding 1- What is overflow, in binary arithmetic?
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When a calculation produces a result too large to fit in the allotted number of bits- What is ASCII?
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A character encoding standard mapping text characters to numeric byte values- What is Unicode?
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A character encoding standard supporting a much larger range of characters across world languages- What is floating-point representation used for?
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Representing real numbers with a fractional component in binary
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