Number Base Converter

Binary is a base-2 number system using only 0 and 1. Computers use binary because electronic circuits have two states — on and off — which map naturally to 1 and 0. All computer data is ultimately stored and processed as binary.

Hexadecimal (base 16) is used by programmers as a compact way to represent binary. Four binary digits equal one hex digit, making memory addresses, colour codes and byte values much shorter and easier to read.

Octal is base 8, using digits 0-7. It was widely used in older computing systems and is still seen in Unix file permissions. The permission 755 in chmod is an octal number.

Divide the number by 2 repeatedly, noting the remainder each time. Read the remainders from bottom to top. For example 13 divided by 2 gives 6 remainder 1, 6 gives 3 remainder 0, 3 gives 1 remainder 1, 1 gives 0 remainder 1 — so 13 in binary is 1101. Our converter does this instantly.