2007-01-29 05:55:10 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Programming & Design
A bit is a single digit, either 0 or 1. Eight zeroes and ones make up a single character on the keyboard. The zero and one are called "binary digits".
2007-01-29 06:12:59 · answer #1 · answered by Richard H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the most basic level, computer instructions are in the form of either a 1 (on) or 0 (off). That is, either current is passing through a circuit or it isn't. Each of these instructions is a bit. As it happens, it takes 8 of these bits to identify a character (letters A-Z and numbers 0-9). So we call that set of 8 bits a byte.
2007-01-29 14:04:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A bit is a binary digit, the smallest increment of data on a computer. A bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1, corresponding to the electrical values of off or on, respectively.
Because bits are so small, you rarely work with information one bit at a time. Bits are usually assembled into a group of eight to form a byte. A byte contains enough information to store a character, like "h".
2007-01-29 14:03:48 · answer #3 · answered by Speedy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 Bit is 1 digit in the binary system. Just like you have digits in the decimal system 0-9, in binary you can have 0s or 1s.
in the decimal system take this number for example:
1234
the first number (1) stands for thousands
the second number (2) stands for hundreds
The 3rd number (3) stands for tens
and the 4th (4) stands for ones.
likewise, in an 8 bit binary number (which is made of 8 digits each of them being either a 1 or a 0):
10101010 for example
the first bit (1) stands for 1s
the second bit (0) stands for 2s
the 3rd bit (1) stands for 4s
the 4th bit (0) stands for 8s
the 5th bit (1) stands for 16s
the 6th bit (0) stands for 32s
the 7th bit (1) stands for 64s
the 8th bit (0) stands for 128s
so in this case this number is:
1*1+0*2+1*4+0*8+1*16+0*32+1*64+0*128
= 1+4+16+64=85
2007-01-29 14:10:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
One bit refers to a a binary digit (AKA a 1 or 0). It is essentially how a computer communicates and work with all of it's components and software. At a very basic level your computer is just adding and shifting bits around to make everything you see happen. Books and books have been written about this, but that is essentially how it works.
2007-01-29 14:02:54 · answer #5 · answered by Kenneth H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The term "bit" refers to electrical current during a certain timeframe. Us humans can not detect electric current so we use "0" and "1" to represent the presence or absence of electrical current. There are many different kinds of codes that can be created for machine level programming codes using Boolean logic with "0" and "1". Luckily, machine level programming became obsolete in the 1950's.
2007-01-29 14:12:07 · answer #6 · answered by Denise T 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a BIT is a Binary digIT. since it is binary, it can only be on or off (thus 1 and 0).
This can also be considered base 2.
If memory serves me correctly, you can trace it all the way back to the 1940s in reference to punch cards.
2007-01-29 14:05:53 · answer #7 · answered by davemc 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋