How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (2024)

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Last Updated: March 16, 2024Fact Checked

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Trying to read a string of binary 1's and 0's can seem a daunting task. However, with a bit of logic we can figure out what they mean. Humans have adapted to use a base ten number system simply because we have ten fingers. Computers, on the other hand (no pun intended), have only two "fingers"--on and off or one and zero. Therefore, the base two number system has been created.[1]

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

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  1. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (4)

    1

    Find a binary number you want to convert. We'll use this as an example: 101010.

  2. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (5)

    2

    Multiply each binary digit by two to the power of its place number. Remember, binary is read from right to left.[2] The rightmost place number being zero.

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  3. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (6)

    3

    Add all the results together. Let's go from right to left.[3]

    • 0 × 20 = 0
    • 1 × 21 = 2
    • 0 × 22 = 0
    • 1 × 23 = 8
    • 0 × 24 = 0
    • 1 × 25 = 32
    • Total = 42
  4. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (7)

    4

    Try another example. Let's use 101. Here is the same method as above, but in a slightly different format. You may find this format easier to understand.[4]

    • 101= (1X2) power of 2 + (0X2) power of 1 + (1X2) power 0
    • 101= (2X2) + (0X0) + (1)
    • 101= 4 + 0 + 1
    • 101= 5
      • The 'zero' is not a number, but its place value must be noted.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Slot Value

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  1. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (9)

    1

    Find your number. The example we'll use is 00101010.

  2. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (10)

    2

    Read from right to left. With each slot, the values are doubled. The first digit from the right has a value of 1, the second is a 2, then a 4, and so on.[5]

  3. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (11)

    3

    Add the values of the ones. The zeros are assigned their correlating number, but those numbers are not added.

    • So, in this example, add 2, 8, and 32. The result is 42.
      • There is a 'no' on 1, a 'yes' on 2, a 'no' on 4, a 'yes' on 8, a 'no' on 16, a 'yes' on 32, a 'no' on 64 and a 'no' on 128. "Yes" means to add, "no" is to skip. You can stop at the last one-digit.
  4. How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (12)

    4

    Translate the value into letters or punctuation marks.[6] In addition, you can convert numbers from binary to decimal or convert from decimal to binary.

    • In punctuation marks, the 42 equals an asterisk (*).
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  • Question

    How can I turn binary into a sentence?

    How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (13)

    Community Answer

    You translate a string of binary code to decimals and then translate the decimals into html code. For example, 111011= 123, 123= { . Write multiple strings of binary code and you'll get a sentence.

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  • Question

    Can I learn to read binary if I am frightened of math?

    How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (14)

    Community Answer

    You will need some basic understanding of math (addition and multiplication) or a calculator.

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  • Question

    How do I add two lines of binary numbers together?

    How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (15)

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    It really depends on the method you're using. If you're looking for a sentence conversion, then the computer automatically reads in sets of eight e.g 00111111 (?), 00111101 (=), 01000001 (A) etc. However, the process the computer goes through is much more complicated than that. Essentially, every five digits is equal to either a symbol, number, or letter.

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      • The numbers we deal with today have a place value. Assuming we are working with whole numbers, the right-most digit is the one's place, the next right-most digit is the ten's place, then hundred's, and so on. The place value for binary numbers go from one's, two's, four's, eight's, and so on.[7]

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      • Binary counts just like normal numbers. The rightmost digit increments by one until it cannot increase any more (in this case from 0 to 1) and then increments the next digit to the left by one and starts again at zero.

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      About This Article

      How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (31)

      Reviewed by:

      Joseph Meyer

      Math Teacher

      This article was reviewed by Joseph Meyer. Joseph Meyer is a High School Math Teacher based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is an educator at City Charter High School, where he has been teaching for over 7 years. Joseph is also the founder of Sandbox Math, an online learning community dedicated to helping students succeed in Algebra. His site is set apart by its focus on fostering genuine comprehension through step-by-step understanding (instead of just getting the correct final answer), enabling learners to identify and overcome misunderstandings and confidently take on any test they face. He received his MA in Physics from Case Western Reserve University and his BA in Physics from Baldwin Wallace University. This article has been viewed 1,073,651 times.

      167 votes - 70%

      Co-authors: 53

      Updated: March 16, 2024

      Views:1,073,651

      Categories: Featured Articles | Mathematics

      Article SummaryX

      To read binary, find a number that you want to read, and remember to count the places from right to left. Then, multiply each digit by 2 to the power of its place number. For example, if the 3rd place from the right is a 1, you would multiply 1 by 2 to the power of 3 to get 8. Once you have an answer for each place, add the numbers together from right to left. For example, 101 would translate to the number 9. For tips on using other techniques, like exponents or slot value, read on!

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      • How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (32)

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      How to Read Binary: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (2024)

      FAQs

      How do you read 8-bit binary numbers? ›

      The key to reading binary is separating the code into groups of usually 8 digits and knowing that each 1 or 0 represents a 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128, ect. from the right to the left. the numbers are easy to remember because they start at 1 and then are multiplied by 2 every time.

      What is the 8-bit pattern in binary? ›

      8-bit binary number (a byte) can have a value ranging from 0 (00000000 2) to 255 (11111111 2), that is 2 8 = 256 different combinations of bits forming a single 8-bit byte.

      How to do binary step by step? ›

      Step 1: Divide the given decimal number by 2 and note down the remainder. Step 2: Now, divide the obtained quotient by 2, and note the remainder again. Step 3: Repeat the above steps until you get 0 as the quotient.

      How does binary translate to pictures? ›

      Digital images are made up of pixels close pixelPicture element - a single dot of colour in a digital bitmap image or on a computer screen.. Each pixel in an image is made up of binary numbers. If we say that 1 is black (or on) and 0 is white (or off), then a simple black and white picture can be created using binary.

      How to read binary code for dummies? ›

      To read binary, find a number that you want to read, and remember to count the places from right to left. Then, multiply each digit by 2 to the power of its place number. For example, if the 3rd place from the right is a 1, you would multiply 1 by 2 to the power of 3 to get 8.

      What does 11111111 mean in binary? ›

      255 in binary is 11111111.

      Is there a way to read binary? ›

      The best way to read a binary number is to start with the right-most digit and work your way left. The power of that first location is zero, meaning the value for that digit, if it's not a zero, is two to the power of zero, or one. In this case, since the digit is a zero, the value for this place would be zero.

      What is the binary code for I love you? ›

      01001001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 is binary code for "I love you".

      What is binary for beginners? ›

      The binary system is a way of representing data using 0s and 1s. This system is used by computers to represent all the data it works with. To compute a number in this system, you would multiply the digit value by the place value, then add them all together.

      What does a picture look like in binary? ›

      Binary images are images whose pixels have only two possible intensity values. They are normally displayed as black and white. Numerically, the two values are often 0 for black, and either 1 or 255 for white.

      How can binary be used to decode images? ›

      Each color for every pixel is represented by 8 bits––for example dark green is represented as 01010010 (red), 10011010(green), and 01100110 (blue). The collection of individual pixels and their color values create images. That's it! How images are represented in binary!

      How do I convert an image to binary? ›

      BW = im2bw( I , level ) converts the grayscale image I to binary image BW , by replacing all pixels in the input image with luminance greater than level with the value 1 (white) and replacing all other pixels with the value 0 (black). This range is relative to the signal levels possible for the image's class.

      What is 1111 in 8-bit binary? ›

      Problem Statements:
      What is 1111 in Binary? - (Base 2)(10001010111)₂
      What is 1111 in Octal? - (Base 8)(2127)₈
      Square Root of 111133.331667
      Is 1111 a Perfect Square?No
      Cube Root of 111110.357096
      4 more rows

      How do you say 8 in binary? ›

      8 in binary is 1000. Unlike the decimal number system where we use the digits 0 to 9 to represent a number, in a binary system, we use only 2 digits that are 0 and 1 (bits).

      How to read binary code to text? ›

      To change binary code into text, which is what humans can read, you have two ways. First, convert the binary numbers into decimal or hexadecimal. Then, you find what letters or symbols they stand for using a chart called ASCII. Or you can simply use an online tool that does all the work for you.

      How to calculate 8-bit binary? ›

      The maximum value that could be represented by an 8 bit number is 255, so the range would be 0—255 (256 values). You can work the number of values quickly by calculating 2n, where n is the number of bits available, for example 28 = 256 values. The range of values is from 0 to 2n – 1, for example 0 to 28 – 1 = 0—255.

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