Hexadecimals

A Hexadecimal Number is based on the number 16

16 Different Values
There are 16 Hexadecimal digits. They are the same as the decimal digits up to 9, but then there are the letters A, B, C, D, E and F in place of the decimal numbers 10 to 15: So a single Hexadecimal digit can show 16 different values instead of the normal 10.

Counting
Choose "Hexadecimal" below and watch it count:

Base:

Hexadecimal

Decimal

Binary

0

268435456 = 167

0

16777216 = 166

0

1048576 = 165

0

65536 = 164

0

4096 = 163

0

256 = 162

0

16 = 161

0

1 = 160

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After the "Ones" position is filled up (after F) the ones start back at 0, and we add 1 to the next position on the left (to show 1 lot of 16).

And after that position reaches F, we do the same thing, and so on.

As we move left, every number place is 16 times bigger.

Example: What is the decimal value of the hexadecimal number "D1CE"
= 53.248 + 256 + 192 + 14 = 53.710 in Decimal

(Test it in the Binary to Decimal to Hexadecimal Converter.)

Example: 2E6.A3
This is 2×16×16 + 14×16 + 6 + 10/16 + 3/(16×16) =742,63671875 in Decimal Read below to find out why

Numbers can be placed to the left or right of the point, to show values greater than one or less than one:

Example 1: What is 4B5 (Hexadecimal)?

 * The "4" is in the "16×16" position, so that means 4 ×16×16
 * The "B" (11) is in the "16" position, so that means 11 ×16
 * The "5" is in the "1" position so that means 5.
 * Answer: 4B5 = 4×16×16 + 11×16 + 5 (=1205) in Decimal

Example 2: What is 2,3 (Hexadecimal)?

 * On the left side is "2", that is the whole number part.
 * The 3 is in the "sixteenths" position, meaning "3 sixteenths", or 3/16
 * So, 2,3 is "2 and 3 sixteenths" (=2,1875 in Decimal)

The Word "Hexadecimal"
The word "Hexadecimal" means "based on 16" (From Greek hexa: "six" and Latin decima: "a tenth part").