what are 32 and 64-bits in computers and what difference do they make?

Question

Does it make the computer faster? And how are they different from 8 and 16-bit video game consoles?

In: 2446

Answer 1

essentially, a bit represents either a 1 or a 0. The more bits a computer has, the bigger the values it can use.
For example, the biggest number a 8 bit computer can get to is 2^8 = 256 (each bit has 2 states (either 1 or 0), and we have 8 of them) which means the largest number it can get to is 255 (0 to 255, 256 numbers)
You cant caluclate anything that has a result larger than 255.

same thing with 32 and 64 bits.
2^32 = 4,294,967,296

2^64 = 1.84467441E+19

This is the main difference.
A 64 bit computer can handle massive numbers at once.
LMK if y need to know more 🙂