Binary Counting — Learn

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About this interactive

What you're seeing: a grid with one row for every number from 0 to 15 and one column for each binary place value — 8, 4, 2 and 1. Why it matters: counting in binary follows one pattern, and once you see it you never have to memorize the list. Every column alternates in runs, and each run is twice as long as the one to its right. How to use it: in Guided mode, fill one column at a time starting with the 1s, and Check each one. The hints fade as you move left. Switch to Solo to fill the whole grid at once. Finish by typing the decimal value of a few highlighted rows.

What you'll learn

Count from 0 to 15 in binary by filling each place-value column, and read any 4-bit value as decimal by summing the place values of its 1-bits

Aligned to

CompTIA Tech+

1.2 Identify notational systems.

Key terms

Binary: The base-2 number system that uses only the digits 0 and 1; the native language of digital computers, which store and process data as electrical on/off states.
Bit: Short for binary digit, the smallest unit of data in computing, holding a single value of 0 or 1; all digital information is ultimately composed of bits.
Nibble: A group of exactly 4 bits, equivalent to one hexadecimal digit; two nibbles make up one byte.
Place Value: The weight assigned to a digit based on its position within a number; in binary, each position represents a successive power of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8, …), making position the key to decoding binary values.

Topics

Binary Number Systems Binary Increment Data Representation

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