Hexadecimal
Computer Science: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 1.1.3
Hexadecimal Numbers
Hexadecimal is faster for humans to process than binary. Hexadecimal allows us to find errors more easily. Hexadecimal is used in every computer system.
Hexadecimal
- Hexadecimal or hex uses 16 different symbols for each place.
- This means hexadecimal is a base-16 numerical system.
- Hexadecimal uses the digits 0-9, then A-F:
- A = 10 in denary, B = 11 , C = 12, D = 13 and so on.
- Each digit's place value is multiplied by 16 as we move from right to left.
Advantages
- An 8-bit binary number can be represented by two hexadecimal digits.
- This means you can reduce processing time with hexadecimal than with binary.
- Hex is easier and faster to write two digits than the full binary sequence.
- It is easier for a human to process hexadecimal than binary.
Using hexadecimal
- Hexadecimal is used extensively in programming languages such as:
- Machine code.
- Assembly.
- Hex can be used during the debugging stage of writing programs as it is easy to process by humans.
- Hex can represent numbers stored in a CPU's registers or in main memory.
Test yourself on Hexadecimal
Which of these are true of hexadecimal vs binary?