kuueteistkümnendnumbrid

Kuueteistkümnendnumbrid, also known as hexadecimal numbers, are a base-16 numeral system. Unlike the decimal system (base-10) which uses ten digits (0-9), hexadecimal uses sixteen distinct symbols. These symbols consist of the standard ten digits (0 through 9) and the letters A through F. The letters A, B, C, D, E, and F represent the decimal values 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, respectively.

The hexadecimal system is widely used in computer science and digital electronics. Its primary advantage is its ability to represent binary numbers more compactly and intuitively. A single hexadecimal digit can represent exactly four binary digits (bits), as 2^4 = 16. This makes it a convenient way to express large binary quantities. For instance, the binary number 1111 can be represented by the hexadecimal digit F, and 1010 by A.

Converting between hexadecimal and binary is straightforward. To convert a hexadecimal number to binary, each hexadecimal digit is replaced by its 4-bit binary equivalent. To convert binary to hexadecimal, groups of four bits are taken from right to left, and each group is converted into its corresponding hexadecimal digit.

Hexadecimal numbers are often denoted with a subscript 16 or a prefix like "0x". For example, the decimal number 255 is equivalent to FF in hexadecimal (15 * 16^1 + 15 * 16^0 = 240 + 15 = 255). This system simplifies the reading and writing of binary data, making it a fundamental concept in digital representation and manipulation.