Bit

What Is Bit?

The bit is the basic unit of information in digital communication. It is represented by the numbers 1 and 0. The name is derived from binary digits. A bit can be stored in a digital device or physical device that can exist in two possible distinct states. 8 bits form a byte. Half a byte is called a nibble. 1024 bytes form 1 kilobyte. 1024 Kilobytes form 1 Megabyte and so on.

Decimal	Binary
0	0
1	1
2	10
3	11
4	100
5	101

What is Binary Coded Decimal (BCD)?

BCD is a type of binary encoding where each decimal digit is represented by a fixed number of bits. Each decimal is represented by its corresponding binary number as in the case below. Characters are represented by a special set of patterns.

Decimal:	9	8
Binary	1001	1000

Thus 98 becomes 1001100 in BCD.