Electronic data and instructions Flashcards
What is an analog signal?
An analog signal is what our voices emit.
What is a digital signal?
A digital signal is an electronic signal that computers can recognize.
What is the difference between analog and digital signals?
Our voices create analog signals which can vary in tones, pitches, and volumes. However, computers can only recognize digital electronic signals.
What is the binary system?
The binary system is used to represent data and instructions. It uses two digits, 0 and 1.
What is the decimal system?
The decimal system uses 10 digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
What is the hexadecimal system?
The hexadecimal system (hex) uses 16 digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F.
What are bits?
Bits are each 0 or 1.
What are bytes?
Bytes are bits combined in groups of 8.
What is character encoding?
Character encoding assigns a unique sequence of bits to each character.
What are the different types of character encoding?
ASCII, EBCDIC, and unicode.
What is EBCDIC?
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Codes are mainly used by mainframe computers to represent characters.
What is ASCII?
American Standard Code for Information Interchange is mainly used for personal computers to represent characters. ASCII only uses 7 bits which is enough for the English language but not Chinese or Japanese.
What is unicode?
Unicode is a newly emerged character encoding that uses 16 bits.
