Bytes (B) | Bits (b) |
---|---|
0 | 0 |
1 | 8 |
2 | 16 |
3 | 24 |
4 | 32 |
5 | 40 |
6 | 48 |
7 | 56 |
8 | 64 |
9 | 72 |
10 | 80 |
20 | 160 |
30 | 240 |
40 | 320 |
50 | 400 |
60 | 480 |
70 | 560 |
80 | 640 |
90 | 720 |
100 | 800 |
1000 | 8000 |
Converting between bytes and bits is a fundamental concept in computer science. It's essential to understand the relationship between these units to work with digital data effectively. There is no difference between bytes and bits in base 10 and base 2 system.
A bit (short for "binary digit") is the smallest unit of data in a computer. It can have a value of either 0 or 1.
A byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of 8 bits. Historically, other byte sizes have been used, but the 8-bit byte is the standard today.
The relationship between bytes and bits is constant:
To convert bytes to bits, you simply multiply the number of bytes by 8.
Formula:
Example: Converting 1 Byte to Bits
To convert bits to bytes, you divide the number of bits by 8.
Formula:
Example: Converting 1 Bit to Bytes
Here are some examples of common quantities converted between bytes and bits:
Kilobyte (KB) to Kilobits (kb):
Megabyte (MB) to Megabits (Mb):
Gigabyte (GB) to Gigabits (Gb):
See below section for step by step unit conversion with formulas and explanations. Please refer to the table below for a list of all the Bits to other unit conversions.
Bytes are fundamental units of digital information, representing a sequence of bits used to encode a single character, a small number, or a part of larger data. Understanding bytes is crucial for grasping how computers store and process information. This section explores the concept of bytes in both base-2 (binary) and base-10 (decimal) systems, their formation, and their real-world applications.
In the binary system (base-2), a byte is typically composed of 8 bits. Each bit can be either 0 or 1. Therefore, a byte can represent different values (0-255).
The formation of a byte involves combining these 8 bits in various sequences. For instance, the byte 01000001
represents the decimal value 65, which is commonly used to represent the uppercase letter "A" in the ASCII encoding standard.
In the decimal system (base-10), the International System of Units (SI) defines prefixes for multiples of bytes using powers of 1000 (e.g., kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte). These prefixes are often used to represent larger quantities of data.
It's important to note the difference between base-2 and base-10 representations. In base-2, these prefixes are powers of 1024, whereas in base-10, they are powers of 1000. This discrepancy can lead to confusion when interpreting storage capacity.
To address the ambiguity between base-2 and base-10 representations, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) introduced binary prefixes. These prefixes use powers of 1024 (2^10) instead of 1000.
Here are some real-world examples illustrating the size of various quantities of bytes:
While no single person is exclusively associated with the invention of the byte, Werner Buchholz is credited with coining the term "byte" in 1956 while working at IBM on the Stretch computer. He chose the term to describe a group of bits that was smaller than a "word," a term already in use.
This section will define what a bit is in the context of digital information, how it's formed, its significance, and real-world examples. We'll primarily focus on the binary (base-2) interpretation of bits, as that's their standard usage in computing.
A bit, short for "binary digit," is the fundamental unit of information in computing and digital communications. It represents a logical state with one of two possible values: 0 or 1, which can also be interpreted as true/false, yes/no, on/off, or high/low.
In physical terms, a bit is often represented by an electrical voltage or current pulse, a magnetic field direction, or an optical property (like the presence or absence of light). The specific physical implementation depends on the technology used. For example, in computer memory (RAM), a bit can be stored as the charge in a capacitor or the state of a flip-flop circuit. In magnetic storage (hard drives), it's the direction of magnetization of a small area on the disk.
Bits are the building blocks of all digital information. They are used to represent:
Complex data is constructed by combining multiple bits into larger units, such as bytes (8 bits), kilobytes (1024 bytes), megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and so on.
While bits are inherently binary (base-2), the concept of a digit can be generalized to other number systems.
Claude Shannon, often called the "father of information theory," formalized the concept of information and its measurement in bits in his 1948 paper "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." His work laid the foundation for digital communication and data compression. You can find more about him on the Wikipedia page for Claude Shannon.
Convert 1 B to other units | Result |
---|---|
Bytes to Bits (B to b) | 8 |
Bytes to Kilobits (B to Kb) | 0.008 |
Bytes to Kibibits (B to Kib) | 0.0078125 |
Bytes to Megabits (B to Mb) | 0.000008 |
Bytes to Mebibits (B to Mib) | 0.00000762939453125 |
Bytes to Gigabits (B to Gb) | 8e-9 |
Bytes to Gibibits (B to Gib) | 7.4505805969238e-9 |
Bytes to Terabits (B to Tb) | 8e-12 |
Bytes to Tebibits (B to Tib) | 7.2759576141834e-12 |
Bytes to Kilobytes (B to KB) | 0.001 |
Bytes to Kibibytes (B to KiB) | 0.0009765625 |
Bytes to Megabytes (B to MB) | 0.000001 |
Bytes to Mebibytes (B to MiB) | 9.5367431640625e-7 |
Bytes to Gigabytes (B to GB) | 1e-9 |
Bytes to Gibibytes (B to GiB) | 9.3132257461548e-10 |
Bytes to Terabytes (B to TB) | 1e-12 |
Bytes to Tebibytes (B to TiB) | 9.0949470177293e-13 |