What is inside a microprocessor? It contains millions o f transistors
that act as switches to open or close electric circuits called
gates. Computers use these electrical circuits to represent
numbers. For example, a switch may be either on or off. Let’s
say when the switch is off, it represents "0" and when the
switch is on it represents "1." One switch can store a single "bit"
of binary information. There are only the numbers "0" and "1"
instead of the numbers 1 through 10 that we use in our regular
math. A group of eight "bits" of information together form a
byte.
How many number combinations (codes) are in a byte?
28 = 256 codes in a byte
Each one of these codes can mean a number, a letter, a
punctuation mark, or other symbols.
| X = |
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| Y = |
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Intel’s Pentium II is a 64-bit microprocessor. How many
codes can you store in 64 bits?
Estimate the answer:
 Less
than 1,000 codes
Between 1,000 and 10,000 codes
 Over
10,000 codes
 
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