Course 1 · Counting Like a Computer

Bits You Can Hold

Computers store everything as 1s and 0s. Flip the cards to count in binary, read a color as three bytes, then work out a download time the way a help desk would.

Part A. Binary with cards

Each card is worth twice the card to its right. Tap a card to flip it face up (1) or face down (0).

Binary Decimal

Now read one

Part B. A color is three bytes

A web color is three bytes in hexadecimal: red, green, blue. Turn each pair into decimal: multiply the first digit by 16 and add the second (A=10 through F=15).

→

Red Green Blue

Part C. The bits-and-bytes trap

Storage is measured in bytes (GB). Internet speed is measured in bits per second (Mbps). There are 8 bits in a byte.

seconds