Bits, Bytes etc.

A BIT, is a BINARY DIGIT. A bit can be a zero or a 1. A binary number made of eight bits, such as 11001010 is known as a BYTE. Four bits, such as 1101 is known as a NIBBLE (half a byte and a joke). Sixteen bits numbers are a WORD. Thirty two bits ones are a LONG WORD. Sixty four bits numbers are a VERY LONG WORD. These numbers can be stored in REGISTERS inside chips (integrated circuits). 1k in binary systems is 1024. These collections of bits can represent binary numbers. They can also represent decimal or other number systems. The ASCII system uses them to represent the letters of the alphabet and punctuation. The ASCII TABLE gives the binary equivalents of the alphabet. All this information is called DATA. Numbers in microprocessor systems are often expressed in hexadecimal. The microprocessor is also called the CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU). There are very many cpu's and one of the most common is the 6502.