In our daily life, we are used to the system of decimal numeric system. That is also called the ten-based number system. The ten digits- 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are used in sequence to create a meaningful numerical system. But the decimal system or ten-based numeric system is not the only number system in the world.

In fact there are myriads of numeral systems available in the world. Some mainstream systems are- The binary system, the decimal system, the octal system, the hexadecimal system, etc. But in this article, we are going to learn about the very basics of the binary number system.

1.      What is the binary number system?

While the decimal number system has ten digits and based on ten specific numbers or symbols that we call numbers, but in the binary system of number there are only two numbers in work. They are 0 and 1. These two numbers are used in sequence to express any number you may want. In the binary system of numbers, you start with either 0 or 1 and also end the number with either 0 or 1.

Everything you want to say or calculate or express can be translated into binary. And it is very important. We will see the reason for that in the latter part of the article.

2.      How does it work?

As stated above, the binary number system works with only 2 digits. 0 and 1. If we break the word binary- we get two parts. Bi and Nary. ‘Bi’ means two, and ‘Nary’ is similar to number. The binary digits are called bits from the word- ‘Binary Digits.’ When we count decimal numbers from 0 to 9 then we don’t use another symbol to signify the digit ten. We use the digits from the previous 10 and continue counting in a specific sequence. Binary is no different. On Calculatorology, Different type of conversions from  Binary to Hex, Binary to ASCII and Binary to decimal can be done easily.

We use 0 and then 1. After that, to signify the number 2, we use 0 again and place the next number- 1 in the left of 0. S0 decimal 2 = 10. Just like that 3 equals 11 in binary. If you want to write ten after the number 9, you could either create a new symbol for ten or use a unique sequence that will make the numeral system basically infinite. So they chose the latter solution.

They took the first digit 0 and put the very next digit 1 on the left of zero, making it 10. Then it continued like that in that sequence. Binary follows the same logic. After 0 and 1, there is no symbol of 2 in binary. You have to use 0 and 1 to signify the number 2.