Binary Counting

Digital electronic devices use a special system of counting called the "Binary System". Numbers in the binary system are represented by a series of ones and zeros. Electronic devices use digital components to store and manipulate numbers. Using eight bits (binary digits) a binary counter can count from 0 to 255.

Each bit in the binary system represents a power of 2. The rightmost bit represents 2⁰ (1), the next bit to the left represents 2¹ (2), the next bit to the left represents 2² (4), and so on. The leftmost bit represents 2⁷ (128).

For example, the binary number 00001010 represents the decimal number 10. The rightmost bit is 0 x 2⁰ = 0, the next bit to the left is 1 x 2¹ = 2, the next bit to the left is 0 x 2² = 0, and the leftmost bit is 1 x 2³ = 8. Adding these together gives 0 + 2 + 0 + 8 = 10.