Bits, Nibble and Bytes...
Binary
What is Binary?
The binary number system is a method of representing numbers that counts by using combinations of only two numerals: zero (0) and one (1).
The computer's only recognises two states, on or off. Binary simplifies information processing.
Because there must always be at least two symbols for a processing system to be able to distinguish significance or purpose, binary is the smallest numbering system that can be used.
Bit
A 'bit' (short for Binary Digit) is the smallest unit of data that can be stored by a computer. Each 'bit' is represented as a binary number, either 1 (true) or 0 (false).
Byte
A 'byte' contains 8 bits, so for example, it could be stored as 11101001.
A single keyboard character that you type, such as the letter A or the letter T takes up one byte of storage.
Nibble
This is not a very commonly used term compared to bit and byte. It is the term given to a group of four bits. Therefore two nibbles make a byte.
What is Binary?
The binary number system is a method of representing numbers that counts by using combinations of only two numerals: zero (0) and one (1).
The computer's only recognises two states, on or off. Binary simplifies information processing.
Because there must always be at least two symbols for a processing system to be able to distinguish significance or purpose, binary is the smallest numbering system that can be used.
Bit
A 'bit' (short for Binary Digit) is the smallest unit of data that can be stored by a computer. Each 'bit' is represented as a binary number, either 1 (true) or 0 (false).
Byte
A 'byte' contains 8 bits, so for example, it could be stored as 11101001.
A single keyboard character that you type, such as the letter A or the letter T takes up one byte of storage.
Nibble
This is not a very commonly used term compared to bit and byte. It is the term given to a group of four bits. Therefore two nibbles make a byte.
Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte and Terabyte
These are units of storage capacity. They can be written as:
Kilobyte (KB)
A Kilobyte is 1,024 bytes.
Megabyte (MB)
A Megabyte is 1,048,576 bytes or 1,024 Kilobytes
A Gigabyte is 1,073,741,824 (230) bytes. 1,024 Megabytes, or 1,048,576 Kilobytes.
A Terabyte is 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, 1,024 Gigabytes, or 1,048,576 Megabytes.
These are units of storage capacity. They can be written as:
Kilobyte (KB)
A Kilobyte is 1,024 bytes.
Megabyte (MB)
A Megabyte is 1,048,576 bytes or 1,024 Kilobytes
- 873 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
- 4 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
A Gigabyte is 1,073,741,824 (230) bytes. 1,024 Megabytes, or 1,048,576 Kilobytes.
- 894,784 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
- 4,473 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
- 341 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
- 256 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
- 1 650MB CD
A Terabyte is 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, 1,024 Gigabytes, or 1,048,576 Megabytes.
- 916,259,689 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
- 4,581,298 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
- 349,525 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
- 262,144 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
- 1,613 650MB CD's
- 233 4.38GB DVD's
- 40 25GB Blu-ray discs