Introduction: How to Understand Binary Code
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About: I am currently at college at the University of North Georgia Gainesville campus. I am enrolled in the Computer Science Associate degree and plan to finish with the Bachelor's degree. I was previousl… More About Jeph Diel »
Have you ever wanted to learn binary code? Did you not know that one could understand binary code? Have you ever seen the joke "There are 10 People in this world, those who know binary and those who don't." and didn't get it? Well if you are any of those above, then you've come to the right place.
Step 1: How to Translate Binary
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. so the first number on the right equals 1 if it shows 1 or nothing if it is 0, then the second number from the right equals 2 if it shows 1 and nothing if it is 0, then the third number equals 4 if it show 1 and nothing if it is 0, see patern? so you keep doing that for each 1 or 0, multiplying the number times 2, and when you finish, add all the numbers, and you're done! it's that easy!
The code needs to be separated into groups in order to translate. The group is usually 8 long, called base 8, but can be anything. the larger it is the higher the maximum number it can be.
If you don't understand yet, then let's look at the grid in the photo, and try to read the numbers, we will start with the light blue one. So since you start at the right, you will see that the rightmost digit is a 0, meaning it is equal to nothing, the next 2 are also 0, so they are also nothing, but the 4th is a 1, so it's equal to 8, the fourth number in the list(1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128). The next digit is also a 1, so it equals 16, the 5th number, and since the rest are 0 and equal nothing, you add all of your numbers, which are 8 and 16, so the light blue code is 24.
Still don't get it? each 1 or 0 represents the black number above it, if it 1 you add the number, if it's 0 you ignore it. so if you go with that the red code equals 201, the purple equals 27, and the pink equals 199. Try and see if you can figure out what the green is.
If you don't get it or are having trouble feel free to ask in comments and I will try to help as best as I can. thanks for viewing this instructable and I hope you liked it!
Step 2: Interesting and Cool Facts
Here are a few cool things about binary.
Even though it may not seem like it, it can represent any positive whole number.
If it is solid 1s, then it equals 1 less than what the next number would represent. for example, if you had all 4 1s, it would equal 1 less than what the 5th would represent, or 15.
All computer files are made of binary code, with a 8 1s and 0s being a byte, and a single 1 or 0 being a bit,
