it’s just a bunch of 0’s and 1’s.. like I can just put a bunch of them and somehow make a sentence??? like what does this mean -> 010100101001010010 (i legit just spammed 0’s and 1’s)
In: 0
A lot of answers here are missing the basics. Binary is base-2. We use base-10 when writing numbers. (0-9)
When you count past nine, you count up in the tens place and start over in the ones place. (09 goes to 10) this is the exact same as binary, except instead of going from 0 up to 9 in a place, you can only go from 0 up to 1.
Example:
00
01
10
Same as regular base ten just way less numbers before you need to carry to the left.
You can do all math exactly the same in binary as base10. Addition,subtraction,mult,div.
In base 10, adding a zero is the same as multiplying by 10. In base 3, adding a zero is the same as multiplying by 2.
Instead of tens, hundreds, thousands places, you have twos, fours, and eights places.
Why do we do this? Because it’s really easy to do digitally. Signal off is 0, signal on is 1.
You can use any value for a base-x system. You probably know how to count in base 5 and just didn’t realize it. Ever counted by drawing 4 lines down and the fifth diagonally across, then starting that pattern over? Some places in the world count on the finger segments (4 fingers, 3 segments each) which is base12.
Base 10: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
Base 9: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10
Base 8: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10
Base 5: 0,1,2,3,4,10
Base 3: 0,1,2,10
Base 2: 0,1,10 (aka binary)
Base 1: 0,00,000 (chicken scratches)
Base 12: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,10
Base 16: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10
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