How come the number 255 is the maximum number used in computers & probably even more

Question

How come the number 255 is the maximum number used in computers & probably even more

In: 2

Answer 1

You know how we can count up to 9 before we need two numerals for 10? But 10 is really a 1 and a 0?

There are 9 numerals there, but 0 is also pretty useful, and if we want to use zero we need to use ten different numerals.

Computers often store information as numbers, and the way they store those numbers is limited to 256 different values. Because we want to use zero, we take away 256 on the top and add 0 on the bottom, so that between 0 and 255 the computer has 256 values to use.

It’s 256 because of binary counting, which only uses two numbers, 1 and 0 instead of the ten we normally use for 0 up to 9.