What do computers know?  All they really know is on or off.  Kind of like a light switch  Computers aren’t nearly as smart as you are!

Integrated Circuits Contains transistors and capacitors that control the flow of electricity and store electricity. Can only tell off and on which computer translates into ones and zeros.

What is this language called?  Binary Code or Machine Language  A lot can be accomplished with ones (on) and zeros (off).

Numbering Systems  Decimal – uses the digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9  Binary – uses only the digits 0 & 1  Decimal represents the number forty-three like this 43  Binary represents the number forty-three like this

How can computers do all they can do?  A bit (short for binary digit) is the smallest piece of data that a computer knows.  It is a single digit, which can only be a one or a zero.  By combining groups of bits and manipulating them, a computer can accomplish all the remarkable things it has a reputation for doing.

Computers process and store all data, pictures, movies, and sounds as long streams of bits!

How do we communicate with computers then?  We need some way for the computer to translate our language into theirs!  How many different letters, numbers, and symbols do we use to communicate?  If we used just one bit we could only store two possible letters, numbers, or symbols. This doesn’t work!

What is a byte?  A group of 8 bits!  If you wrote down all the possible combinations of ones and zeros that could make up a byte you would have 256!  through  Or 2 to the eighth power – 2 8  2 8 equals 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2

ASCII Code  A set of standards developed so all computers would store letters, numbers, and symbols using the same binary code.  The ASCII Code is an 8-bit or 1 byte code.  Each letter, number, or symbols is stored using one byte of computer memory.  The ASCII Code for C would be  The ASCII Code for c would be

So how many bytes does it take to store this sentence?  If you said 54 you are correct!

Translate this message!

So what is a KB, MB, and GB?  As computers became more and more powerful new terms were needed to describe the amount of bytes.  Compare this to inches versus miles!

What is a kilobyte or KB?  Technically it is exactly 1024 bytes or  Approximately 1000 bytes.  This is equivalent to about ½ of a typewritten page of text.

What is a Megabyte or MB?  Exactly 1,048,576 bytes or 2 20  Approximately 1 million bytes  This is equivalent to 500 pages of typewritten text or 1 thick book.

What is a Gigabyte or GB?  Exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes or 2 30  Approximately 1 billion bytes  This is equivalent to 500,000 pages of typewritten text or 1,000 thick books.

What is a Terabyte or TB?  Exactly 1,099,511,627,776 bytes or 2 40  Approximately 1 trillion bytes  This is equivalent to 1,000,000 thick books.