Computer Technology - Hexadecimal Data
Hexadecimal notation is a number system commonly used in computing. Each hexadecimal digit can store 16 possible values, which makes it more compact than binary and useful for representing computer data in a shorter form.
Hexadecimal is also called base 16 because each digit has 16 possible values.
1. What Is Hexadecimal?
Hexadecimal is a number system used in computing where each digit can represent 16 different values.
These values range from 0 to 15. Since a single digit cannot normally show values like 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 using only numbers, hexadecimal uses letters to represent them.
2. Hexadecimal Values
In hexadecimal:
| Hex Digit |
Decimal Value |
| 0 |
0 |
| 1 |
1 |
| 2 |
2 |
| 3 |
3 |
| 4 |
4 |
| 5 |
5 |
| 6 |
6 |
| 7 |
7 |
| 8 |
8 |
| 9 |
9 |
| A |
10 |
| B |
11 |
| C |
12 |
| D |
13 |
| E |
14 |
| F |
15 |
3. Why Are Letters Used?
In decimal, one digit can only represent values from 0 to 9. But hexadecimal needs 16 symbols.
To solve this, hexadecimal uses:
- 0–9 for values 0–9
- A–F for values 10–15
This allows one hexadecimal digit to represent a larger range of values than one decimal digit.
4. Example
A single hexadecimal digit can hold one of these 16 possible values:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F
For example:
- A = 10
- B = 11
- C = 12
- D = 13
- E = 14
- F = 15
This is why hexadecimal is very useful in computing—it can represent data more compactly than binary.
Summary
- Hexadecimal is a base 16 number system
- Each digit can represent 16 values
- It uses 0–9 and A–F
- A–F represent decimal values 10–15
- Hexadecimal is useful because it is shorter and easier to read than binary
