Bits and Bytes

Bits and Bytes:

Remember that one bit represents one switch that is either on or off and there are eight bits to one byte. That means that one byte can store two to the eighth power or 256 different numbers i.e. a binary number with eight digits can range from 0 to 255 and thus can store any one of 256 values. (Each of these values can be a assigned a character such as a letter or a number or a punctuation mark. In this way one byte can store any one of 256 different characters. On modern computers this is called the ASCII character set. So when you think of a byte think of one letter). Also remember that a set of 1024 bytes is called a kilobyte (KB) and 1024 kilobytes is called a megabyte (MB). Also 1024 bits is called a kilobit (Kb) and 1024 kilobits is called a megabit (Mb).