Number Systems

Why Different Bases?

Decimal (base 10) uses 10 digits (0–9). Binary (base 2) uses 2 states (0 and 1) — perfect for digital circuits. Hexadecimal (base 16) uses 0–9 and A–F — each hex digit represents exactly 4 binary bits, making it compact and human-readable for binary data.

Binary to Decimal

Read binary digits from right to left as powers of 2. 1011₂ = 1×2³ + 0×2² + 1×2¹ + 1×2⁰ = 8+0+2+1 = 11₁₀. Decimal to binary: repeatedly divide by 2 and read remainders from bottom to top.

Hexadecimal in Computing

Hex is ubiquitous in computing: memory addresses (0x7FFF), colour codes (#FF5733), MAC addresses (AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF). A byte (8 bits) is represented by exactly 2 hex digits — 00 to FF (0 to 255 in decimal).

Binary, Decimal & Hex Converter

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