What is “hexadecimal” and why is it used?
We usually use the base 10, or decimal, system for numbering things in our daily life. However, this is not a convenient system for computers, since they are based on powers of two, not ten. The most natural system for computers is base 2, or binary. However, treating the character : as 00111010 is cumbersome; it is much easier to use a hexadecimal, which is a base 16 system– hexadecimal condenses 00111010 into 3a, which is the same as writing 3 * 16^1 + 10 * 16^0 = 3 * 16 + 10 = 58 = 00111010 = ‘:’. (Base 16 uses characters 0 – 9, then a – f for 10 through 15) Hexadecimal also has the convenient property that converting 3 = 0011 and a = 1010, then placing the two parts next to each other (3a = 0011 1010) yields the correct binary number. Please note that this is not a rigorous mathematical explanation, and it assumes some knowledge of bases.
