Hexadecimal is a 16-bit numbering system. If you ever look at the machine code for a computer program, you will often see hexadecimal numbers, rather than the binary number. The reason is simple. Say you were trying to represent 12 in binary and hexadecimal. In hexadecimal, C represents the number, whereas in binary it is 1100. The mere space usage of each number is evident.

Hexadecimal is used to represent machine language for the computer and to represent colors. If you ever work with HTML, you will learn that instead of entering in a color name, a hexadecimal number is often entered. 

All material and images on these pages are copyright Joseph,Ed. This page was developed for the Thinkquest1999 competition.