Convert 5 from decimal to binary
(base 2) notation:
Power Test
Raise our base of 2 to a power
Start at 0 and increasing by 1 until it is >= 5
20 = 1
21 = 2
22 = 4
23 = 8 <--- Stop: This is greater than 5
Since 8 is greater than 5, we use 1 power less as our starting point which equals 2
Build binary notation
Work backwards from a power of 2
We start with a total sum of 0:
22 = 4
The highest coefficient less than 1 we can multiply this by to stay under 5 is 1
Multiplying this coefficient by our original value, we get: 1 * 4 = 4
Add our new value to our running total, we get:
0 + 4 = 4
This is <= 5, so we assign our outside coefficient of 1 for this digit.
Our new sum becomes 4
Our binary notation is now equal to 1
21 = 2
The highest coefficient less than 1 we can multiply this by to stay under 5 is 1
Multiplying this coefficient by our original value, we get: 1 * 2 = 2
Add our new value to our running total, we get:
4 + 2 = 6
This is > 5, so we assign a 0 for this digit.
Our total sum remains the same at 4
Our binary notation is now equal to 10
20 = 1
The highest coefficient less than 1 we can multiply this by to stay under 5 is 1
Multiplying this coefficient by our original value, we get: 1 * 1 = 1
Add our new value to our running total, we get:
4 + 1 = 5
This = 5, so we assign our outside coefficient of 1 for this digit.
Our new sum becomes 5
Our binary notation is now equal to 101
