binääriluvuksi

A binääriluku, known in English as a binary number, is a number expressed in the base-2 numeral system. This system uses only two symbols, typically 0 and 1, to represent any numerical value. Unlike the decimal system (base-10) that we commonly use, which employs ten digits (0-9), the binary system relies on powers of two.

Each digit in a binary number is called a bit, which is short for "binary digit." The position of a bit determines its value. Starting from the rightmost bit, the positions represent 2^0 (which is 1), 2^1 (which is 2), 2^2 (which is 4), and so on, increasing by a power of two for each position to the left. For example, the binary number 1011 can be translated to decimal by calculating (1 * 2^3) + (0 * 2^2) + (1 * 2^1) + (1 * 2^0), which equals 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 11 in decimal.

The binary system is fundamental to modern computing and digital electronics. Computers use binary because electrical signals can be easily represented as two distinct states: on (1) or off (0). This simplicity allows for reliable data storage, processing, and transmission. Logic gates, the building blocks of digital circuits, operate on binary inputs and produce binary outputs, enabling complex computations.