Download Article
Download Article
This article was reviewed by Jessica Andzouana. Jessica Andzouana is a Software Engineer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over five years of professional experience in front-end development, digital art, and design, she is passionate about emerging technologies such as blockchain and AI. Her background as both a programmer and artist, paired with a highly design-conscious mindset, provides her a fresh perspective and unique skill set to produce creative solutions in her field. She works at Alcacruz as a Software Engineer, and received a dual BS/BA degree from Santa Clara in Computer Science and Studio Art.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
This article has been viewed 1,099,859 times.
Trying to read a string of binary 1's and 0's can seem a daunting task. However, with a bit of logic we can figure out what they mean. Humans have adapted to use a base ten number system simply because we have ten fingers. Computers, on the other hand (no pun intended), have only two "fingers"--on and off or one and zero. Therefore, the base two number system has been created.[1]
Steps
-
Find a binary number you want to convert. We'll use this as an example: 101010. -
Multiply each binary digit by two to the power of its place number. Remember, binary is read from right to left.[2] The rightmost place number being zero.Advertisement
-
Add all the results together. Let's go from right to left.[3]
- 0 × 20 = 0
- 1 × 21 = 2
- 0 × 22 = 0
- 1 × 23 = 8
- 0 × 24 = 0
- 1 × 25 = 32
- Total = 42
-
Try another example. Let's use 101. Here is the same method as above, but in a slightly different format. You may find this format easier to understand.[4]
- 101= (1X2) power of 2 + (0X2) power of 1 + (1X2) power 0
- 101= (2X2) + (0X0) + (1)
- 101= 4 + 0 + 1
- 101= 5
- The 'zero' is not a number, but its place value must be noted.
-
Find your number. The example we'll use is 00101010.
-
Read from right to left. With each slot, the values are doubled. The first digit from the right has a value of 1, the second is a 2, then a 4, and so on.
-
Add the values of the ones. The zeros are assigned their correlating number, but those numbers are not added.
- So, in this example, add 2, 8, and 32. The result is 42.
- There is a 'no' on 1, a 'yes' on 2, a 'no' on 4, a 'yes' on 8, a 'no' on 16, a 'yes' on 32, a 'no' on 64 and a 'no' on 128. "Yes" means to add, "no" is to skip. You can stop at the last one-digit.
- So, in this example, add 2, 8, and 32. The result is 42.
-
Translate the value into letters or punctuation marks.[5] In addition, you can convert numbers from binary to decimal or convert from decimal to binary.
- In punctuation marks, the 42 equals an asterisk (*).
Expert Q&A
-
QuestionWhat's some good advice for someone who is new to programming?
Jessica AndzouanaJessica Andzouana is a Software Engineer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over five years of professional experience in front-end development, digital art, and design, she is passionate about emerging technologies such as blockchain and AI. Her background as both a programmer and artist, paired with a highly design-conscious mindset, provides her a fresh perspective and unique skill set to produce creative solutions in her field. She works at Alcacruz as a Software Engineer, and received a dual BS/BA degree from Santa Clara in Computer Science and Studio Art.
Software EngineerI think one of the best things that you can do to learn programming is to have a project to work towards. It's very motivating when you can see how the things that you're learning are applicable to real-world situations. One of the most basic projects you can do when you're learning, for instance, is a calculator. You can use all of the different things that you've learned in order to create it. -
QuestionHow can I turn binary into a sentence?
Community AnswerYou translate a string of binary code to decimals and then translate the decimals into html code. For example, 111011= 123, 123= { . Write multiple strings of binary code and you'll get a sentence. -
QuestionCan I learn to read binary if I am frightened of math?
Community AnswerYou will need some basic understanding of math (addition and multiplication) or a calculator.
Video
Tips
-
The numbers we deal with today have a place value. Assuming we are working with whole numbers, the right-most digit is the one's place, the next right-most digit is the ten's place, then hundred's, and so on. The place value for binary numbers go from one's, two's, four's, eight's, and so on.[6]Thanks
-
Binary counts just like normal numbers. The rightmost digit increments by one until it cannot increase any more (in this case from 0 to 1) and then increments the next digit to the left by one and starts again at zero.Thanks
References
- ↑ https://www.cut-the-knot.org/do_you_know/BinaryHistory.shtml
- ↑ https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/binary.htm
- ↑ https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/how-to-read-binary/
- ↑ https://www.scienceabc.com/innovation/how-to-read-binary.html
- ↑ https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/binary-to-ascii.html
- ↑ https://www.basic-mathematics.com/binary-number-system.html
About This Article
To read binary, find a number that you want to read, and remember to count the places from right to left. Then, multiply each digit by 2 to the power of its place number. For example, if the 3rd place from the right is a 1, you would multiply 1 by 2 to the power of 3 to get 8. Once you have an answer for each place, add the numbers together from right to left. For example, 101 would translate to the number 9. For tips on using other techniques, like exponents or slot value, read on!
Reader Success Stories
-
"Back when I was in college, I had a math teacher that had a very simple way of reading binary. I have not used it in ten years and forgot how it was done. This site showed me another easy way to do it."..." more
