10–4 Base Conversions and Arithmetic
The Representation of Numbers
Although the display of a number is converted when the base is changed, its
stored form is not modified, so decimal numbers are not truncated — until they are
used in arithmetic calculations.
When a number appears in hexadecimal, octal, or binary base, it is shown as a
right–justified integer with up to 36 bits (12 octal digits or 9 hexadecimal digits).
Leading zeros are not displayed, but they are important because they indicate a
positive number. For example, the binary representation of 125
10
is displayed as:
1111101
which is the same as these 36 digits:
000000000000000000000000000001111101
Negative Numbers
The leftmost (most significant or "highest") bit of a number's binary representation
is the sign bit; it is set (1) for negative numbers. If there are (undisplayed) leading
zeros, then the sign bit is 0 (positive). A negative number is the 2's complement of
its positive binary number.
Keys: Display: Description:
546
{x
{
%
}
Enters a positive, decimal
number; then converts it to
hexadecimal.
^
2's complement (sign
changed).
{x
{
}
Binary version;
§
indicates more digits.
Displays the leftmost
window; the number is
negative since the highest
bit is 1.
{x
{
}
.)
Negative decimal number.
