In the context of data stored in a computer, what is a byte?
A group of binary digits, usually eight, that a computer usually deals with.
A computer stores and processes data using the binary number system, where the smallest unit is a BIT (binary digit), holding either 0 or 1. A group of bits handled together forms larger units. A byte is a group of binary digits — conventionally 8 bits — that a computer normally treats as one unit; one byte can represent 256 (2⁸) different values, enough to encode a single character. Hence the correct description is 'a group of binary digits, usually eight, that a computer usually deals with'.
Why the other options are wrong: 'The smallest unit of data a computer can deal with' describes a BIT, not a byte. 'A group of variable bits depending on the processor architecture' describes a WORD (whose size varies with the machine, e.g. 32-bit or 64-bit), not a byte, whose size is standardly fixed at 8 bits. 'A byte consists of 4 bits' is incorrect — 4 bits form a NIBBLE (half a byte), whereas a byte is 8 bits.
Takeaway: 1 byte = 8 bits (1 nibble = 4 bits; the smallest unit is a single bit).
Correct answer: A group of binary digits, usually eight, that a computer usually deals with.
Similar Questions
Given below are two statements with reference to different number systems:
Statement I: (D6C1)16 = (54977)10
Statement II: (41819)10 = (A35B)16
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:An Indian company designs a mobile application to process staff records. In each record, 10 bits are used to store staff ID and 20 bytes are used to store staff names. How many staff records can the mobile application support?
Match List I with List II
LIST I (Statement) List II (Value) A. Number of bytes formed from 8 bits I. 6 B. Base-10 (denary) value of the binary number : 110 II. 4 C. If there are 2ᴾ bytes in 1 mega byte, then what is the value of P ? III. 1 D. An ISP company advertises its broadband download speed as 128 mega bits per second. How many 4-mega byte files can be downloaded per second using the company's broad band? IV. 20 Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Match List I with List II
LIST I (Statement) LIST II (Value) A. Base-10 (denary) value of the binary number: 100000 I. 100 B. Internet service provider advertises a download speed of 80 megabits per second. What is the time taken in seconds to download an 80 megabyte file ? II. 14 C. A music file is 80 megabytes in size and MP3 file compression reduces the size of a music file by 90%. The number of MP3 files of the size after compression that can be stored on an 800 MB CD III. 32 D. What is the denary (base-10) equivalent to the hexadecimal digit E? IV. 8 Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) For the sequence of integers represented in binary as 00111, 01001, 01011, P………. the next integer P would be represented as 01101
(b) A byte is a binary number consisting of exactly 8 bits
Choose the correct option:
What is the decimal equivalent of binary number 1100110?
What is the binary equivalent of decimal number 75?
If the binary equivalent of the decimal number 53 is 110101, then the binary equivalent of the decimal number 50 is given by:
Important Questions from Binary Number System
Convert decimal number 26.85 into binary equivalent.
Given below are two statements
Statement I: The base of the binary number system is 2.
Statement II: Binary addition is just like decimal addition except that the rules are much simpler.
In light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below
A-F system is used in which of the following number systems?
How many unique combinations of 0's and 1's can be made with a 5-binary-digit code?
Which of the following number systems uses two numbers to represent data in computer ?
