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A number system that uses only two different digits, 0 and 1, instead of ten in the decimal system. It is the foundation in the fields of computer science and electronics, because electronic devices can easily represent two distinct states instead of ten states. The digits 0 and 1 can be represented by off/on conditions in an electronic switching circuit or to absence/presence of magnetization on a memory chip, a disk or tape.
The following table shows the same values in both decimal and binary systems:
Decimal Binary 0 0 1 1 2 10 3 11 4 100 5 101 6 110 7 111 : :
