Bits 'N' Bytes -- Bits and Nibbles

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Bits and Nibbles

Bits are on the Base 2 system, that is, a number set of just two digits: 0 and 1.

A bit is the most basic part of memory.

Four bits makes a nibble. By combining the digits of 0 and 1, you can create 16 unique values ranging from 0000 to 1111.

Each bit in a nibble represents a power of 2. The left-most digit is 2³ (8), the second-to-left is 2² (4), then the second-to-last is 2¹ (2), then the right-most digit being 2⁰ (1).

Each bit in a nibble represents a power of 2 as you can see in this chart. Notw that the "Bit Column" represents a digit position couting upwards from the right end of the byte towards the left.

Bit Column	Power of 2	Hex Value	Decimal Value
0	2⁰	1	1
1	2¹	2	2
2	2²	4	4
3	2³	8	8

To represent, for example, a number 9, you would need a nibble of 1001, with the left-most digit being 8 and the right-most digit being 1, so 8 + 1 = 9.

To represent, for example, a number 12, you would need a nibble of 1100, with the left-most digit being 8 and the next-to-left-most digit being 4, so 8 + 4 = 12. 12 in decimal is also the hexadecimal digit of C, in fact, the complete range of hexadecimal digits are represented by a nibble.

Bits	Decimal Value	Hexadecimal Value
0000	0	0
0001	1	1
0010	2	2
0011	3	3
0100	4	4
0101	5	5
0110	6	6
0111	7	7
1000	8	8
1001	9	9
1010	10	A
1011	11	B
1100	12	C
1101	13	D
1110	14	E
1111	15	F

Bits and Nibbles

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