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Hexadecimal numbers are used in MAC addresses (hardware addresses) in computers. This gives an unlimited number of possible combinations to computer manufacturers. That way each PC in the world has a unique identifier. Esuka Endeley Hexadecimal is a number system using Base 16. It uses the digits from 0 to 9 and the letters from A to F, A=10, B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, F=15. It enables very large numbers to be written with fewer characters. As computers have very large memories, addressing specific parts of them becomes a big task. Hexadecimal is used as a way of doing so. Sometimes if your computer crashes you will see an error message showing a number with letters in it. Those letters are always between A and F. Basically what it is saying is that there was a problem in memory at this point.

Hexadecimal is used in many other ways in computers. One very common purpose is for colour codes in web pages. 6 digits are used, with 2 representing the amount of Red, 2 the amount of Green and 2 for the amount of blue. So if you want a lot of Red, but not much blue or green as a mix for your colour, the code could be something like FF0502. FF represents 255. If you do a web design course, specifically learning to use HTML for creating colours on your pages, you will learn more about this.

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15y ago
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9y ago

Any base that is a power of two can be used to notate binary numbers. Base-2 is binary itself, so each binary digit maps to 1 bit of binary data. A base-4 digit maps to exactly 2 bits of binary while a base-8 (octal) digit maps to exactly 3 bits. Hexadecimal (base-16) is convenient because each digit maps to exactly 4 bits of binary, and since a byte is typically 8-bits, we can represent 8 bits of binary using just two hex digits. A hex digit is called a nybble because it is exactly half a byte.

We use hexadecimal whenever we want to represent binary values rather than decimal values. Binary is the only language the machine understands, so everything ultimately has to be converted to binary. While decimal notation is fine when we're dealing with decimal concepts (currency, temperature, distance, and so on), often we need to work at the machine level, setting or unsetting individual bits. For that we use hexadecimal notation.

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14y ago

Octal and hexadecimal numbers are used extensively by computer specialists because octal and hexadecimal are easily converted to and from binary. You simply group the binary bits into groups of 3 or 4 and then convert that group into octal or hexadecimal, or you convert the octal or hexadecimal digit into a group of 3 or 4 binary bits. With practice, you can do this at sight.

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11y ago

Because Hexadecimals are easy to write, remember and most important uses lesser number of characters to write a program. For e.g. Let's take a simple example - To write value of 255, binary number system would take 8 characters (255 (base 10)= 11111111 (base 2)) to punch from keyboard, decimal number system will take 3 key punches and hexadecimal will take only 2 key punches (255 (base 10) = FF (base 16)).

So it is much easier to write program in hexadecimal than any other system.

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16y ago

It's used as a "human friendly" representation of binary coded values

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15y ago

It's a counting system for computers that is easier for people to use than binary (the machine level code for the computer.) 0xFF is easier to deal with than 11111111.

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14y ago

A much more concise representation. 1111 in binary can be represented as F in hex.

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14y ago

its used in ipv6 to expand the number of possible ip addresses

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Q: Why octal and hexadecimal numbers use extensively by computers' specialists?
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What is the hexadecimal numbers for 66?

42


What lets you define a color with numbers and letters?

The hexadecimal system


How many five digit hexadecimal strings are there?

Considering the lowest five digit hexadecimal number is 10000 (65,536) and the highest is FFFFF (1,048,575), there are 983,040 different hexadecimal numbers that are five digits.


Why people are using Hexadecimal rather than binary numbers while doing programs?

hexadecimal can express 16 bit binary in 4 place form, not 16.


Write a program that prints a table of the binary octal and hexadecimal equivalents of the decimal numbers in the range 1 through to 256?

import java.util.Scanner; public class NumberSystem { public void displayConversion() { Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.printf("%-20s%-20s%-20s%-20s\n", "Decimal", "Binary", "Octal", "Hexadecimal"); for ( int i = 1; i <= 256; i++ ) { String binary = Integer.toBinaryString(i); String octal = Integer.toOctalString(i); String hexadecimal = Integer.toHexString(i); System.out.format("%-20d%-20s%-20s%-20s\n", i, binary, octal, hexadecimal); } } // returns a string representation of the decimal number in binary public String toBinaryString( int dec ) { String binary = " "; while (dec >= 1 ) { int value = dec % 2; binary = value + binary; dec /= 2; } return binary; } //returns a string representation of the number in octal public String toOctalString( int dec ) { String octal = " "; while ( dec >= 1 ) { int value = dec % 8; octal = value + octal; dec /= 8; } return octal; } public String toHexString( int dec ) { String hexadecimal = " "; while ( dec >= 1 ) { int value = dec % 16; switch (value) { case 10: hexadecimal = "A" + hexadecimal; break; case 11: hexadecimal = "B" + hexadecimal; break; case 12: hexadecimal = "C" + hexadecimal; break; case 13: hexadecimal = "D" + hexadecimal; break; case 14: hexadecimal = "E" + hexadecimal; break; case 15: hexadecimal = "F" + hexadecimal; break; default: hexadecimal = value + hexadecimal; break; } dec /= 16; } return hexadecimal; } public static void main( String args[]) { NumberSystem apps = new NumberSystem(); apps.displayConversion(); } }

Related questions

Why is it possible to have decimal numbers?

It is possible to have numbers in ANY base. Binary, octal and hexadecimal are used extensively in computers. Furthermore, the base can be any positive number - it does not even need to be rational.


What is the 16 base numbering system format computers express numbers in?

Hexadecimal


Computers express numbers in what format?

The format by which computers express number is hexadecimal format. In this format the base of numbers is 16 as opposed to 10.


Do calculator and computers only understand decimal number?

No. In general, their internal processing is in binary numbers and there are programs that enable them to work with hexadecimal numbers.


What are hexadecimal numbers?

hexadecimal numbers are the a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16.16 distinct symbols are used in the hexadecimal numbers.


What is hexadecimal code?

Computer engineers use to use the hexadecimal code to program computers, or the base 16. Hexadecimal numbers use the digits 0 through 9, plus the letters A through F to represent the digits 10 through 15.


Computers often express numbers in what format?

Base 16 numbering is called 'Hex' or 'Hexadecimal'. Base 8 numbering is called 'Octal'. Base 2 numbering is called 'Binary'.


What are hexadecimals?

hexadecimal numbers are the a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16.16 distinct symbols are used in the hexadecimal numbers.


What is the hexadecimal numbers for 66?

42


How do you solve octa-hexadecimal?

That depends what you want to "solve" for - in other words, what the question is. For example, whether you want to:* Convert from hexadecimal to decimal* Convert from decimal to hexadecimal* Count in hexadecimal* Add hexadecimal numbers* etc.


What is the base for hexadecimal numbers?

The number is 16.


What is 15 plus 13 in hexadecimal numbers?

Expressed as a sum in hexadecimal form, F + D = 1C.