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Hardware/Analogue_and_digital.md
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@ -45,6 +45,6 @@ A digital system represents data as a sequence of symbols where each symbol is o
Computers only use two symbols for each value: 0 and 1.
Although a digital system could use more than two symbols, adding more would increase the complexity and cost of the system. A set of only two symbols allows for simplified hardware and improved reliability.
Although a digital system could use more than two symbols, adding more would [increase the complexity](/Hardware/Binary/Why_computers_use_binary.md#from-circuits-to-programs) and cost of the system. A set of only two symbols allows for simplified hardware and improved reliability.
All data within a computer from images to sounds are sequences of 0s and 1s. In practice, the sequences are stored in various ways. On a CD, the binary digits are stored as bumps (0) or flat spaces (1). On a flash drive, the 1s and 0s are electrical charges etc.

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Hardware/Binary/Binary_units_of_measurement.md
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@ -5,3 +5,15 @@ categories:
- Hardware
tags: [bits, binary]
---
# Binary units of measurement
A single place or symbol in a decimal number is called a **digit**. For example the number 34.3 is a number containing three digits. A digit can be any numeral through 0-9.
The equivalent entity in the [binary number system](/Hardware/Binary/The_binary_number_system.md) is the **bit**. For example the binary number 110 has three bits. A bit can only have one of two values in contrast to a digit which can have one of ten values: 0 or 1.
## Sequences of bits
The informational complexity of digit is much larger than a bit: it can represent one of 10 states whereas a bit can only represent one of two states. Therefore to express greater complexity we work with sequences of bits. Everytime we increase the binary place value of a binary number we are adding to the sequence and increasing the overall complexity of the number by a factor of 2.
The standard **base sequence** of bits is called a **byte**. This is a binary number comprising **eight bits**. For example the number `11001110` is a byte equivalent to 206 in decimal.