Why Are Some Numbers 'Favourite' to Computers?

Computers like counting in powers of two, just like you might count on your fingers. If you have only two fingers, it's easy to count from 0 to 1, and that’s how computers think: with binary numbers (ones and zeros). When a computer counts, it’s like a game of thumbs-up or thumbs-down. If you give it the right kind of number, it can add, subtract, and multiply quickly.

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Examples

  1. A computer counting from 0 to 3 using only two fingers (like binary: 00, 01, 10, 11).
  2. Your favorite number is 7, in binary, that’s 111.
  3. The decimal number 8 becomes 1000 in binary.

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