What are Binary Numbers

Don’t look puzzled the next time you see streams of 1s and 0s. If they don’t seem to make sense, it's high time you update your knowledge of binary numbers. Read on to do just that!

Binary numbers make up the numbering system that is based on 2 in which 0 and 1 are the only available digits to form numbers. Unlike the decimal number system in which the base is 10, the base of every binary number is 2. The binary number system devised by Pingala serves as the foundation of modern computer technology. Before moving ahead, you may like to read all about the computer history and full timeline of computers. Having read the history of computers, you must have realized that binary numbers form the heart of computer systems.

What is Binary Information?
The information that is transmitted across computer networks in the form of binary numbers, as streams as 0s and 1s, is known as binary information.

Each digit of a binary number represents an increasing power of 2. The right-most digit, which is conventionally known as the unit’s place digit in context of decimal numbers, represents 2 to the power 0. The next digit represents 2 to the power 1, the next is base 2 raised to the index 2, then 2 raised to the power 3 and so on.

In the binary numeral system, the numbers 0 and 1 are represented as 0 and 1 respectively. They remain unchanged. The number 2 is represented as 10, 3 as 11, 4 as 100, 5 as 101 and so on.

Following is an example of the binary representation of 5.
101 = 1*2² + 0*2¹ + 1*2⁰
= (1*4) + (0*2) + (1*1)
= (4) + (0) + (1) = 5
On similar lines, you can try finding the values of numbers, which look like streams of 1s and 0s. They might have seemed meaningless till now. But now that you are equipped with the know-how of binary numbers, I am sure you will be able to derive meaning from those 1s and 0s. Won’t you? Those of you interested in mathematics, must go through this collection of math articles.

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