HOW BINARY NUMBERS WORK
A while ago I released BitMarkers - binary stitch markers for knitters and crocheters. I didn't worry too much about a supporting how-to or blog page, because there are a lot of binary number tutorials on the interwebs. But after seeing that the most popular ones tend to dive straight into exponential notation and math-heavy explanations, I decided to go ahead and write my own. This is intended for beginners, and focuses on re-learning how numbering systems work in hopefully a more intuitive way. Then it goes into exponents at the very end.
![](https://media.zenobuilder.com/upload/sp-7337/68202125.png)
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Binary Counting Method 1 - Rolling over Bits
![](https://media.zenobuilder.com/upload/sp-7337/68202395.png)
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Binary Counting Method 2 - The Places
![](https://media.zenobuilder.com/upload/sp-7337/68202534.png)
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Binary Counting Method 3 - Exponents
![](https://media.zenobuilder.com/upload/sp-7337/68202753.png)
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- Any number to the exponent of 1 is just itself. 3^1 = 3. 52^1 = 52.
- Any number to the exponent of 0 is 1. Always. 3^0 = 1. 524^0 = 1. 1^0 = 1.
Now we're ready to explain to our alien visitor how decimal numbers work using exponents, because each digit's place can also be thought of in terms of exponents.
![](https://media.zenobuilder.com/upload/sp-7337/68202897.png)
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