Number Systems in Computer Science
Binary, Decimal, and Digital Information
MIS 2201 • Lecture Notes
Lecture Sections
Introduction: Why Do Computers Use Different Number Systems?
Computer Components Overview
Computers consist of four main components:
Input Devices
Keyboard, mouse, camera, microphone
Output Devices
Monitor, speakers, printers
Processor (CPU)
The “brain” that performs calculations
Memory
RAM (temporary) and Hard drives (permanent)
The Electronic Reality
Due to the electronic design of computers, all data must be represented using:
- ON state: +5 Voltage (represented as 1)
- OFF state: 0 Voltage (represented as 0)
This is why computers use Binary Numbers (only 0s and 1s) internally, even though humans prefer Decimal Numbers (0-9).