Chapter 1 - Data Storage, part a

General Outcomes

• Recognize that the fundamental building blocks of computers are logic gates and, given their inputs, be able to determine the output of a simple collection of gates.


• Apply an understanding of how computers represent various kinds of values to a variety of situations in both a CS classroom and daily life, e.g.,
  • Explain bits and bytes and how they are organized.
  • Given an encoding type (base-ten, hexadecimal, or simple floating point), translate a bit-string into its corresponding value .

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week students should be able to:

• Explain the general functionality of a(n) [AND | OR | NOT | XOR] gate.
• Given two inputs to an [AND | OR | XOR] gate, identify the output of the gate.
• Given one input to a NOT gate, identify the output of the gate.
• Given up to three inputs to a circuit consisting of a combination of up to three gates, identify the output of the circuit.
• Convert a binary representation (unsigned integer) to its equivalent base ten value.
• Convert a base ten value to its binary equivalent (unsigned integer).
• Convert a length 4 binary representation (unsigned integer) to its equivalent hexadecimal value.
• Convert a hexadecimal value to its binary equivalent (unsigned integer).
• Calculate how many unique values can be stored in N bits.
• Convert a length 8 bit-string into its decimal/fractional equivalent assuming the first four bits store the integer, and the second four bits store the fraction.
• Explain how a computer stores decimal numbers in the floating-point format using [8 | 32] bits.