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BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM

Binary

What is it?

The binary number system is a base-2 number system. This means it only has two numbers: 0 and 1. All information in a computer (words, pictures, movies, sound) is stored and transmitted as sequences of bits, or binary digits.

A bit is a single piece of data which can be thought of as either zero or one. Each binary number is made up of bits, for example, the number 1010 is made of 4 bits. When you have 8 bits altogether, this is known as a byte. A byte may look like the number 01000100 and in this case represents the letter 'D'.

Australian Curriculum definition

Binary

A use of two states or permissible values to represent data, such as ON and OFF positions of a light switch or transistors in a computer silicon chip that can be in either the electrical state of ON or OFF.

Binary data are typically represented as a series of single digits referred to as binary digits (or bits) due to each taking on the value of either 0 or 1. The image below shows how a dashed line might be represented in binary.

Binary

Source: Australian Curriculum: Technologies glossary

LESSON IDEAS

How to teach it

Primary

Binary Picture

Using binary to create on/off pictures

Students develop an understanding of how computers store and send digital images and they are able to represent images in a digital format.

Secondary

Everything is numbers

Everything is numbers!

In this sequence students learn how the binary number system works and how text can be represented using binary numbers. Students learn one of the representations of the standard English alphabet used by computers. They also look at how the same concepts apply to non-text data and analyse the effectiveness of some binary representation techniques to various types of data.

CURRICULUM LINKS

Level F - 2

Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (ACTDIK002)

Levels 3 - 4

Recognise different types of data and explore how the same data can be represented in different ways (ACTDIK008)

Levels 5 - 6

Examine how whole numbers are used to represent all data in digital systems (ACTDIK015)

Levels 7 - 8

Investigate how digital systems represent text, image and audio data in binary (ACTDIK024)

Levels 9 - 10

Analyse simple compression of data and how content data are separated from presentation (ACTDIK035)