Decimal to Binary
Convert numbers from Base 10 to Base 2 (0 and 1).
What is the Binary system (Base 2)?
In our daily life, we use the Decimal system (Base 10) which has ten digits (0 to 9) to form all numbers. Computers, on the other hand, operate purely with electricity (on and off), so they use the systemBinary (Base 2), which is composed of only two digits: 0 and 1.
How to convert in your head?
To convert the decimal number 10 to binary manually, you need to keep dividing by 2 and noting the remainders of the division.
- 10 ÷ 2 = 5, remainder0
- 5 ÷ 2 = 2, remainder1
- 2 ÷ 2 = 1, remainder0
- 1 ÷ 2 = 0, remainder1
Reading the leftovers from bottom to top, we discover that 10 in binary is written asOne Thousand Ten. Our calculator performs this division process (or bit-shift, in modern computing) instantly, no matter how gigantic your number is.