Hexadecimal numbers and their application

In this section, we will learn about the hexadecimal number system and its application. We use hexadecimal numbers in our day-to-day lives without realizing, such as for the MAC address of your phone or computer.

Hexadecimal numbers are base-16 numbers. They can be represented by using 10 digits (0 to 9) and 6 letters (A = 10, B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, F = 15).

Let's look at some conversions between the decimal and hexadecimal number systems:

Figure 3.15 – Counting in hexadecimal

Just like decimal numbers, hexadecimal numbers also have place values:

(100)16 = (1 ∙ 162) + (0 ∙ 161) + (0 ∙ 160) = 256

Computer programmers use hexadecimal numbers to simplify the binary number system. We know that 24 = 16, so we know there is a linear relationship between 2 and 16, which implies that four binary digits would be equivalent to one hexadecimal digit. In other words, since...