0100010

0100010 is a binary number. Binary is a base-2 numeral system that uses only two symbols, typically 0 and 1, to represent numbers. In the binary system, each digit represents a power of 2. The rightmost digit represents 2 to the power of 0 (which is 1), the next digit to the left represents 2 to the power of 1 (which is 2), and so on.

To convert the binary number 0100010 to its decimal (base-10) equivalent, we can assign a power of 2 to each digit, starting from the rightmost digit with 2^0. The binary number 0100010 can be broken down as follows:

0 * 2^6 + 1 * 2^5 + 0 * 2^4 + 0 * 2^3 + 0 * 2^2 + 1 * 2^1 + 0 * 2^0.

Calculating these values:

0 * 64 + 1 * 32 + 0 * 16 + 0 * 8 + 0 * 4 + 1 * 2 + 0 * 1.

This simplifies to:

0 + 32 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 2 + 0.

The sum is 34. Therefore, the binary number 0100010 is equivalent to the decimal number 34.

Binary numbers are fundamental in computing as they are the language that computers understand. Electrical signals within a computer are often represented as either "on" (1) or "off" (0), directly corresponding to the binary digits. This allows for the processing and storage of data.