Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 10 Computing Guides

Year 10 - Computing

Hexadecimal

Representation of numbers

Unit Summary

In this unit pupils will be reminded of how the base-10 number system works before being introduced to the base-2 number system. They will perform conversions between binary and decimal and recognise the rules of binary addition and subtraction. They will be introduced to hexadecimal and its uses.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain how numbers are represented in hexadecimal and why it is useful in computer science.

Key Notes

  • Hexadecimal is often used by humans instead of binary because it is easier to read and interpret and uses fewer digits.
  • Hexadecimal is a base-16 number system.
  • The digits used for hexadecimal are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • hexadecimal: a base-16 number system that uses the digits 0 to 9 and the letters A, B, C, D, E and F
  • base-16: a number system that uses 16 digits

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Hexadecimal numbers are used to take up less memory on the computer.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Describe the system or process from this lesson in clear steps.

Hexadecimal is often used by humans instead of binary because it is easier to read and interpret and uses fewer digits. Hexadecimal is a base-16 number system.

2. Define this computing term and give one practical example. 'hexadecimal'

a base-16 number system that uses the digits 0 to 9 and the letters A, B, C, D, E and F. Add one real device or system example to prove understanding.

3. Correct this common computing misconception.

Mistake: Hexadecimal numbers are used to take up less memory on the computer. Correction: Computers still only process and store binary data. Hexadecimal is used by humans to help them process long binary sequences more easily but the underlying number of bits is still the same.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 Computing guide library.