GCSE Computer Science Revision

Understanding and Using Hexadecimal in Computing

Hexadecimal is a base-16 number system widely used in computing. It's essential to understand why it's used and how to convert between denary (base-10) and hexadecimal (base-16) numbers, especially within the 0 – 255 denary range and 00 – FF hexadecimal range.

Why Hexadecimal is Used

Hexadecimal is used in computing for several reasons:

  • It's more compact than binary, making it easier to read and write large binary numbers.
  • Each hexadecimal digit corresponds to four binary digits (bits), simplifying the translation between binary and hexadecimal.
  • It's particularly useful in representing byte-sized data (8 bits), as two hexadecimal digits exactly represent one byte.

Denary to Hexadecimal Conversion

 

Hexadecimal to Denary Conversion