Electronic and digital systems use various number systems such as Decimal, Binary, Hexadecimal and Octal, which are essential in computing.
- Binary (base-2) is the foundation of digital systems.
- Hexadecimal (base-16) and Octal (base-8) are commonly used to simplify the representation of binary data.
- The Decimal system (base-10) is the standard system for everyday calculations.
- Other number systems like Duodecimal (base-12), are less commonly used but have specific applications in certain fields.

There are four common types of number systems based on the radix or base of the number :
- The Decimal system is a base-10 number system.
- It uses ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
- Each digit’s place value is a power of 10 (e.g., 100, 101, 102).
- It is the standard system for everyday counting and calculations.
- The Binary system is a base-2 number system.
- It uses two digits: 0 and 1.
- Each digit’s place value is a power of 2 (e.g., 20, 21, 22).
- The Binary system is the foundation for data representation in computers and digital electronics.
- The Octal system is a base-8 number system.
- It uses eight digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
- Each digit’s place value is a power of 8 (e.g., 80, 81, 82).
- It is often used to simplify the representation of binary numbers by grouping them into sets of three bits.
- The Hexadecimal system is a base-16 number system.
- It uses sixteen digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F (where A = 10, B = 11, etc.).
- Each digit’s place value is a power of 16 (e.g., 160, 161, 162).
- Hexadecimal simplifies binary by representing every 4 bits as one digit (0-F).
A number N in base or radix b can be written as:
(N)b = dn-1 dn-2 — — — — d1 d0 . d-1 d-2 — — — — d-m
(N)b = dn-1 dn-2 — — — — d1 d0 . d-1 d-2 — — — — d-m
In the above, dn-1 to d0 is the integer part, then follows a radix point and then d-1 to d-m is the fractional part. dn-1 = Most significant bit (MSB) d-m = Least significant bit (LSB)

For Integer Part:
- Divide the decimal number by 2.
- Record the remainder (0 or 1).
- Continue dividing the quotient by 2 until the quotient is 0.
- The binary equivalent is the remainders read from bottom to top.
For Fractional Part:
- Multiply the fractional part by 2.
- Record the integer part (0 or 1).
- Take the fractional part of the result and repeat the multiplication.
- Continue until the fractional part becomes 0 or reaches the desired precision.
- The binary equivalent is the integer parts recorded in sequence.
Example: (10.25)10

For Integer Part (10):
- Divide 10 by 2 → Quotient = 5, Remainder = 0
- Divide 5 by 2 → Quotient = 2, Remainder = 1
- Divide 2 by 2 → Quotient = 1, Remainder = 0
- Divide 1 by 2 → Quotient = 0, Remainder = 1
Reading the remainders from bottom to top gives 1010.
For Fractional Part (0.25):
- Multiply 0.25 by 2 → Result = 0.5, Integer part = 0
- Multiply 0.5 by 2 → Result = 1.0, Integer part = 1
The fractional part ends here as the result is now 0. Reading from top to bottom gives 01.
Thus, the binary equivalent of (10.25)10 is (1010.01)2.
For Integer Part:
- Write down the binary number.
- Multiply each digit by 2 raised to the power of its position, starting from 0 (rightmost digit).
- Add up the results of these multiplications.
- The sum is the decimal equivalent of the binary integer.
For Fractional Part:
- Write down the binary fraction.
- Multiply each digit by 2 raised to the negative power of its position, starting from -1 (first digit after the decimal point).
- Add up the results of these multiplications.
- The sum is the decimal equivalent of the binary fraction.
Example: (1010.01)2
1x23 + 0x22 + 1x21+ 0x20 + 0x2 -1 + 1x2 -2 = 8+0+2+0+0+0.25 = 10.25
1x23 + 0x22 + 1x21+ 0x20 + 0x2 -1 + 1x2 -2 = 8+0+2+0+0+0.25 = 10.25
Thus, (1010.01)2 = (10.25)10
For Integer Part:
- Divide the decimal number by 8.
- Record the remainder (0 to 7).
- Continue dividing the quotient by 8 until the quotient is 0.
- The octal equivalent is the remainders read from bottom to top.
For Fractional Part:
- Multiply the fractional part by 8.
- Record the integer part (0 to 7).
- Take the fractional part of the result and repeat the multiplication.
- Continue until the fractional part becomes 0 or reaches the desired precision.
- The octal equivalent is the integer parts recorded in sequence.
Example: (10.25)10
For Integer Part (10):
- Divide 10 by 8 → Quotient = 1, Remainder = 2
- Divide 1 by 8 → Quotient = 0, Remainder = 1
Octal equivalent = 12 (write the remainder, read from bottom to top). So, the octal equivalent of the integer part 10 is 12.
For Fractional Part (0.25):
- Multiply 0.25 by 8 → Result = 2.0, Integer part = 2
The fractional part ends here as the result is now 0. So, the octal equivalent of the fractional part 0.25 is 0.2.The octal equivalent of (10.25)10 = (12.2)8
For Integer Part:
- Write down the octal number.
- Multiply each digit by 8 raised to the power of its position, starting from 0 (rightmost digit).
- Add up the results of these multiplications.
- The sum is the decimal equivalent of the octal integer.
For Fractional Part:
- Write down the octal fraction.
- Multiply each digit by 8 raised to the negative power of its position, starting from -1 (first digit after the decimal point).
- Add up the results of these multiplications.
- The sum is the decimal equivalent of the octal fraction.
Example: (12.2)8
1 x 81 + 2 x 80 +2 x 8-1 = 8+2+0.25 = 10.25
1 x 81 + 2 x 80 +2 x 8-1 = 8+2+0.25 = 10.25
Thus, (12.2)8 = (10.25)10
For Integer Part:
- Divide the decimal number by 16.
- Record the remainder (0-9 or A-F).
- Continue dividing the quotient by 16 until the quotient is 0.
- The hexadecimal equivalent is the remainders read from bottom to top.
For Fractional Part:
- Multiply the fractional part by 16.
- Record the integer part (0-9 or A-F).
- Take the fractional part of the result and repeat the multiplication.
- Continue until the fractional part becomes 0 or reaches the desired precision.
- The hexadecimal equivalent is the integer parts recorded in sequence.
Example: (10.25)10
Integer part:
- 10 ÷ 16 = 0, Remainder = A (10 in decimal is A in hexadecimal)
Hexadecimal equivalent = A
Fractional part:
- 0.25 × 16 = 4, Integer part = 4
Hexadecimal equivalent = 0.4
Thus, (10.25)10 = (A.4)16
For Integer Part:
- Write down the hexadecimal number.
- Multiply each digit by 16 raised to the power of its position, starting from 0 (rightmost digit).
- Add up the results of these multiplications.
- The sum is the decimal equivalent of the hexadecimal integer.
For Fractional Part:
- Write down the hexadecimal fraction.
- Multiply each digit by 16 raised to the negative power of its position, starting from -1 (first digit after the decimal point).
- Add up the results of these multiplications.
- The sum is the decimal equivalent of the hexadecimal fraction.
Example: (A.4)16
(A × 160) + (4 × 16-1) = (10 × 1) + (4 × 0.0625)
(A × 160) + (4 × 16-1) = (10 × 1) + (4 × 0.0625)
Thus, (A.4)16 = (10.25)10
To convert from Hexadecimal to Binary:
- Each hexadecimal digit (0-9 and A-F) is represented by a 4-bit binary number.
- For each digit in the hexadecimal number, find its corresponding 4-bit binary equivalent and write them down sequentially.
Example: (3A)16
- (3)16 = (0011)2
- (A)16 = (1010)2
Thus, (3A)16 = (0011101)2
To convert from Binary to Hexadecimal:
- Start from the rightmost bit and divide the binary number into groups of 4 bits each.
- If the number of bits isn’t a multiple of 4, pad the leftmost group with leading zeros.
- Each 4-bit binary group corresponds to a single hexadecimal digit.
- Replace each 4-bit binary group with the corresponding hexadecimal digit.
Example: (1111011)2
0011 1101 1011 | | | 3 D B
0011 1101 1011 | | | 3 D B
Thus, (0011110 )2 = (3DB)16
To convert from binary to octal:
- Starting from the rightmost bit, divide the binary number into groups of 3 bits.
- If the number of bits is not a multiple of 3, add leading zeros to the leftmost group.
- Each 3-bit binary group corresponds to a single octal digit.
- The binary-to-octal conversion for each 3-bit group is as follows:
| Octal | Binary Equivalent |
|---|---|
| 0 | 000 |
| 1 | 001 |
| 2 | 010 |
| 3 | 011 |
| 4 | 100 |
| 5 | 101 |
| 6 | 110 |
| 7 | 111 |
Octal
Binary Equivalent
000
001
010
011
100
101
110
111
- Replace each 3-bit binary group with the corresponding octal digit.
Example: (1111011)2
111 101 101 | | |7 5 5
111 101 101 | | |7 5 5
Thus, (1111011)2 = (755)8
To convert from octal to binary:
- Each octal digit (0-7) corresponds to a 3-bit binary number.
- For each octal digit, replace it with its corresponding 3-bit binary equivalent.
Example: (153)8
-
Break the octal number into digits: 1, 5, 3
-
Convert each digit to binary:1 in octal = 001 in binary5 in octal = 101 in binary3 in octal = 011 in binary
-
1 in octal = 001 in binary
-
5 in octal = 101 in binary
-
3 in octal = 011 in binary
Thus, (153)8 = (0011010)2