An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A → numeral system that has 2 as its base and uses only two digits, 0 and 1. The positional value of each digit in a binary number is twice the place value of the digit of its right side. Each binary digit is known as a bit. The decimal numbers from 0 to 10 are thus in binary 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, and 1010. And, for example, the binary number 11101₂ represents the decimal number (1 × 2⁴) + (1 × 2³)

• (1 × 2²) + (0 × 2¹) + (1 × 2⁰), or 29. In electronics, binary numbers are the flow of information in the form of zeros and ones used by computers. Computers use it to manipulate and store all of their data including numbers, words, videos, graphics, and music.

See also: → binary; → number; → system.