Binary numeral system

The binary numeral system is a way to write numbers using only two digits: 0 and 1. These are used in computers as a series of "off" and "on" switches. In binary, each digit's place value is twice as much as that of the next digit to the right. The place value of the rightmost digit is 1.

Example – 10110011

• The place value of the last 1 is 1.
• The place value of the 1 before that is 2.
• The place value of the 0 before that is 4.
• The place value of the 0 before that is 8.
• The place value of the 1 before that is 16.
• The place value of the 1 before that is 32.
• The place value of the 0 before that is 64.
• The place value of the 1 before that is 128.

Here is a list of some numbers that can be made from these digits (zero is represented by a single "0"):

Decimal	Binary	Explanation
1	00001	0+0+0+0+1
2	00010	0+0+0+2+0
3	00011	0+0+0+2+1
4	00100	0+0+4+0+0
5	00101	0+0+4+0+1
6	00110	0+0+4+2+0
7	00111	0+0+4+2+1
8	01000	0+8+0+0+0
9	01001	0+8+0+0+1
10	01010	0+8+0+2+0
11	01011	0+8+0+2+1
12	01100	0+8+4+0+0
13	01101	0+8+4+0+1
14	01110	0+8+4+2+0
15	01111	0+8+4+2+1
16	10000	16+0+0+0+0
17	10001	16+0+0+0+1
18	10010	16+0+0+2+0
19	10011	16+0+0+2+1
20	10100	16+0+4+0+0
21	10101	16+0+4+0+1
22	10110	16+0+4+2+0
23	10111	16+0+4+2+1
24	11000	16+8+0+0+0
25	11001	16+8+0+0+1
26	11010	16+8+0+2+0
27	11011	16+8+0+2+1
28	11100	16+8+4+0+0
29	11101	16+8+4+0+1
30	11110	16+8+4+2+0
31	11111	16+8+4+2+1

Binary is a numbering system that is a series of 1s and 0s meaning (to the computers) on and off. It is base 2 and our number system (decimal) is base 10. Binary was invented by many people but is credited to Gottfried Leibniz, a German mathematician. The idea of binary was created in the 1600s. Binary has been used in nearly everything electronic; from calculators to supercomputers. Machine code is binary digits.