What is the best definition of a bit?

What is the best definition of a bit?

A bit (short for binary digit) is the smallest unit of data in a computer. A bit has a single binary value, either 0 or 1. Half a byte (four bits) is called a nibble. In some systems, the term octet is used for an eight-bit unit instead of byte. In many systems, four eight-bit bytes or octets form a 32-bit word.

What is a bit and how does a series of bits represent data?

A binary digit, or bit, is the smallest unit of data in computing. It is represented by a 0 or a 1. Binary numbers are made up of binary digits (bits), eg the binary number 1001. The digits 1 and 0 used in binary reflect the on and off states of a transistor. Computer programs are sets of instructions.

What is the definition of a computer bit?

A bit is a binary digit, the smallest increment of data on a computer. A bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1, corresponding to the electrical values of off or on, respectively. Computer storage and memory is often measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB).

Who coined the term bit?

John Tukey
John Tukey, 85, a retired Princeton University statistician who coined the words “software” and “bit.” Tukey was one of the nation’s most influential statisticians, but he may be best remembered for his contributions as an amateur linguist.

What does school bit mean?

A Bachelor of Information Technology (abbreviations BIT, BInfTech, B. Tech (IT) or BE (IT)) is an undergraduate academic degree that generally requires three to five years of study.

Why do computers use bits to represent data?

Computers use multiple bits to represent data that is more complex than a simple on/off value.

Do you understand how computers represent complex information?

Binary can be used to represent more complex, higher level abstractions, including but not limited to numbers, characters, and colors. When data is large enough computers switch to using decimal representation instead of binary, because you can represent larger numbers with fewer digits.

What signal states can a bit adopt?

Bit is the abbreviation for binary digit. The BIT is the smallest binary (bivalent) information unit, which can accept a signal status of “1“ or “0“. For a unit of 8 binary characters, the term BYTE is used. A byte has the size of 8 bits.

What are the possibilities for a bit?

The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as either “1” or ” 0″, but other representations such as true/false, yes/no, +/−, or on/off are commonly used.

What is the smallest unit of data in a computer?

A bit (short for binary digit) is the smallest unit of data in a computer. A bit has a single binary value, either 0 or 1. Although computers usually provide instructions that can test and manipulate bits, they generally are designed to store data and execute instructions in bit multiples called bytes.

What is a bit (b)?

Sometimes abbreviated as b, a bit is short for binary digit and is a single unit of information that can have a value of either 0 or 1 (off or on, false or true, low or high).

Why is a byte smaller than a bit?

Because all information (even a single character) is larger than a bit; a byte is the smallest unit of measurement to measure a file. What comes before a bit? A bit is the smallest unit of computer measurement, which means nothing comes before a bit. What comes after a bit? A nibble comes after a bit.

What is meant by one bit in Computer Science?

In information theory, one bit is the information entropy of a binary random variable that is 0 or 1 with equal probability, or the information that is gained when the value of such a variable becomes known.