Bits, Bytes, and Words/Storage Units:
Each 0 or 1 in the binary system is called a bit abbreviation of binary digit. The bit is the basic unit for storing data in computer memory 0 means off, 1 means on. Notice that since a bit is always either on or off, a bit in computer memory is always storing some kind of data.
Since single bits by themselves cannot store all the number, letters, and special character (such as $ and %) that a computer must process, the bits are put together in a group called a byte (pronounced "bite"). There are usually 8 bits in a byte. Each byte usually represents one character of letter, digit, or special character.
Bit:
Abbreviation of binary digits (0 or 1), the smallest unit of data storage. One bit occupies one store location.
Byte:
A group of combination of 8 bits is called a byte. One byte can store one one character.
Word:
A complete word is a combination of one or more bytes handled together as a single unit for processing and may thus be of 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits. The length of word varies from machine to machine but it predetermined for each machine. A computer reads and processes all the bites of the word at a time.
Storage Units:
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Bit |
= |
0,1 |
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8 bits
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= |
Byte |
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1024 Bytes |
= |
1 Kilobyte |
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1024 KB
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= |
1 Megabyte |
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1024 MB |
= |
1 Gigabyte |
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1024 GB |
= |
1 Terabyte
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Capacity of Memory:
Computer manufacturers express the capacity of memory and storage in terms of the number of bytes it can hold. The number of bytes can be expressed as kilobytes. Kilo represents 2 to the tenth power, or 1024. Kilobyte is abbreviated KB or simply K. (Sometimes K is used casually to mean 1000, as in "I earned 300$ last year"). A kilobyte is 1024 bytes. Thus, the memory of a 640K computer can store 640×1024 bytes. Memory capacity may also be expressed in tern of megabytes (1024×1024 bytes). One megabyte abbreviated MB, means roughly, one million bytes. With storage devices, manufacturers sometimes express memory amounts in terms of gigabytes (abbreviated GB) billions of bytes.
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