what do computers know? all they really know is on or off. kind of like a light switch computers...
TRANSCRIPT
What do computers know?
All they really know is on or off.
Kind of like a light switch Computers aren’t nearly as smart as you are!
Integrated Circuits
•Contains transistors and capacitors that control the flow of electricity and store electricity.•Can only tell off and on which computer translates into ones and zeros.
What is this language called? Binary Code or Machine Language
A lot can be accomplished with ones (on) and zeros (off).
Numbering Systems
Decimal – uses the digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Binary – uses only the digits 0 & 1
Decimal represents the number forty-three like this 43
Binary represents the number forty-three like this 00101011
How can computers do all they can do? A bit (short for binary digit) is the
smallest piece of data that a computer knows.
It is a single digit , which can only be a one or a zero.
By combining groups of bits and manipulating them, a computer can accomplish all the remarkable things it has a reputation for doing.
How do we communicate with computers then? We need some way for the computer
to translate our language into theirs! How many different letters, numbers,
and symbols do we use to communicate?
If we used just one bit we could only store two possible letters, numbers, or symbols. This doesn’t work!
What is a byte?
A group of 8 bits! If you wrote down all the possible
combinations of ones and zeros that could make up a byte you would have 256!
00000000 through 11111111 Or 2 to the eighth power – 28
28 equals 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2
ASCII Code
A set of standards developed so all computers would store letters, numbers, and symbols using the same binary code.
The ASCII Code is an 8-bit or 1 byte code.
Each letter, number, or symbols is stored using one byte of computer memory.
The ASCII Code for C would be 01000011.
The ASCII Code for c would be 01100011.
So what is a KB, MB, and GB? As computers became more and
more powerful new terms were needed to describe the amount of bytes.
Compare this to inches versus miles!
What is a kilobyte or KB?
Technically it is exactly 1024 bytes or 210.
Approximately 1000 bytes. This is equivalent to about ½ of a
typewritten page of text.
What is a Megabyte or MB?
Exactly 1,048,576 bytes or 220
Approximately 1 million bytes This is equivalent to 500 pages of
typewritten text or 1 thick book.
What is a Gigabyte or GB?
Exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes or 230
Approximately 1 billion bytes
This is equivalent to 500,000 pages of typewritten text or 1,000 thick books.