Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

Get The TCP/IP Guide for your own computer.
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  Networking Fundamentals
      9  Backgrounder: Data Representation and the Mathematics of Computing

Previous Topic/Section
Decimal, Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal Number Conversion
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
2
Next Page
Boolean Logic and Logical Functions
Next Topic/Section

Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal Arithmetic
(Page 1 of 2)

Many of us use arithmetic every day as part of our regular lives without really noticing it, to give us the information we need to make decisions. In a similar way, computers perform arithmetic operations all the time as part of their normal operation. The main differences between how computers do it and how we do it are two-fold: computers use binary numbers, and computers are much faster.

As I said in my introduction to binary, octal and hexadecimal numbers, those forms are different representations of numbers, and are not really much different than decimal numbers. They just have a different number of values per digit. In a similar vein, arithmetic with binary, octal or hexadecimal numbers is not that much different from the equivalent operations with decimal numbers. You just have to keep in mind that you are working with powers of 2, 8 or 16, instead of 10, which isn’t always easy to do.

As was the case with conversions, calculators are usually the way to go if you need to do math with binary, octal or hexadecimal numbers. If your calculator only does math with decimal numbers, one trick is to convert the numbers to decimal, then perform the operation, and convert back the result. However, you can fairly easily do the same addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on binary, octal or hex numbers that you do with decimal numbers, by using the Windows Calculator program or equivalent.

Multiplication and division of binary numbers is a common operation within computers, but isn't a calculation that often needs to be done by people who are working with them. Addition and subtraction are much more common (especially addition), and have the added bonus of being much easier to explain. You probably won't need to do this type of arithmetic that often, but it's good to understand it, at least a little. I am going to provide just a couple of examples to give you the general idea.


Previous Topic/Section
Decimal, Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal Number Conversion
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
2
Next Page
Boolean Logic and Logical Functions
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.