ABSTRACT
The most commonly used number system is the denary system. This system contains the ten digits 0 to 9, and is said to have a base of ten. For normal calculations denary numbers are satisfactory. However, the denary system is unsuitable for computer calculations because digital computers depend for their operation upon two state devices, such as switches, which are in either the OFF or ON position. This chapter discusses number conversions such as binary to denary and denary to binary. It describes how binary numbers can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided, by using examples. The chapter shows how the answers to the subtraction, multiplication and division of two binary numbers may be obtained using an addition process. It discusses commutative laws, associative laws, and distributive laws of sets. The algebra associated with two-state systems is called Boolean algebra. The laws are the same as the laws of sets.
