Computer Number System Questions with Solutions
Computers store and process all data in binary, using only the digits 0 and 1. This topic covers the four number systems used in computing: binary (base 2), octal (base 8), decimal (base 10) and hexadecimal (base 16, using digits 0 to 9 and letters A to F). It covers converting numbers between these systems, binary arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), and complements (1's and 2's complement) used to represent negative numbers. The fastest conversions go through binary. Each octal digit equals a group of three binary digits, and each hexadecimal digit equals a group of four. To convert decimal to binary, divide by 2 repeatedly and read the remainders from bottom to top. Character encoding schemes such as ASCII and Unicode are also covered at a basic level. Practise the computer number system questions below, each with a step-by-step conversion.
- Q61.
In order to store floating-point numbers in a computer using the normalized representation and 32-bit single precision, the numbers of bits used for the exponent and the fraction are __________ and __________ respectively.
A. 11, 21B. 16, 15C. 16, 16D. 8, 23easyAsked in NIMCET 2018View solution āŗ - Q62.
In IEEE single precision floating point representation, the exponent is represented in ______
A. 8 bit Sign-magnitude representationB. 8 bit 2's complement representationC. Biased exponent representation with a bias value 127D. Biased exponent representation with a bias value 128easyAsked in NIMCET 2019View solution āŗ - Q63.
With 4-bit 2's complement arithmetic, which of the following additions will result in overflow?
A. 1111 + 1101B. 0110 + 0110C. 1101 + 0101D. 0101 + 1011easyAsked in NIMCET 2019View solution āŗ - Q64.
If the 2's complement representation of a number is , what is its equivalent hexadecimal representation?
A. B. C. D.easyAsked in NIMCET 2019View solution āŗ - Q65.
Which of the following represents ?
A. B. C. D.easyAsked in NIMCET 2019View solution āŗ - Q66.
In an 8-bit representation of a computer system, the decimal number 47 has to be subtracted from 38. The result in binary 2's complement is _________
A. 11110111B. 10001001C. 11111001D. 11110001easyAsked in NIMCET 2019View solution āŗ - Q67.
The quotient, if the binary number 11010111 is divided by 101, is ______
A. 101101B. 101010C. 111001D. 101011easyAsked in NIMCET 2024View solution āŗ - Q68.
Given that numbers A and B are two 8-bit 2's complement numbers with A = 11111111 and B = 11111111, the sum A + B is ______
A. 00000010B. 11111100C. 11111110D. 00000000easyAsked in NIMCET 2024View solution āŗ - Q69.
What is the equivalent decimal value of the unsigned binary number 10101.10101?
A. 125.25B. 51.125C. 25.375D. 21.65625easyAsked in NIMCET 2025View solution āŗ - Q70.
Which of the following statements about ASCII and Unicode is correct?
A. Unicode is backward compatible with ASCII and includes all ASCII characters in its encoding.B. ASCII uses 16 bits per character, while Unicode uses only 7 bits.C. Unicode and ASCII are completely different and share no common characters.D. ASCII can represent more characters than Unicode because it uses fewer bits per character.easyAsked in NIMCET 2025View solution āŗ - Q71.
What is the hexadecimal representation of the decimal number 265?
A. 0x100001001B. 0x109C. 0x411D. 0x190easyAsked in NIMCET 2025View solution āŗ