Hexadecimal Number System
Get introduced to the hexadecimal number system.
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Overview
The binary system may not be readable especially when the numbers are large. Therefore, the more readable hexadecimal system has been widely adopted especially in computer technologies.
The hexadecimal system has sixteen numerals. Since alphabets do not have more than ten numerals, this system borrows six letters from the Latin alphabet and uses them along with the regular numerals: 0123456789abcdef. The numerals a, b, c, d, e, and f have the values 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, respectively. The letters ABCDEF can be used as well.
Similar to other number systems, the value of every digit is 16 times the value of the digit on its right-hand side: 1, 16, 256, 4096, etc. For example, the values of all of the digits of an 8-digit unsigned hexadecimal number are the following:
| Digit | Value |
|---|---|
| 7 | 268,435,456 |
| 6 | 16,777,216 |
| 5 | 1,048,576 |
| 4 | 65,536 |
| 3 | 4,096 |
| 2 | 256 |
| 1 | 16 |
| 0 | 1 |
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