Problem of the Day
Monday, September 14, 2026
Problem:
The term bit refers to a "binary digit", a value of 0 or 1 in the binary system. The term byte refers to a sequence of eight bits. The maximum decimal value that can be represented by eight bits is:
- 7
- 8
- 16
- 255
- 256
The correct answer is d.
Assuming all eight digits are used to represent the value, 111111112 would be calculated as 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 = 255.
In some early computers, the first bit was reserved to indicate the sign—positive or negative—of the number, so the range of values that could be represented was -128 to +127.