4. Octal and Hexadecimal number system

Octal Number System

• Octal number system uses eight digits running from 0-7 to represents values of a number. the place value go up in a factor of 8

Example:

The table below clearly shows how octal numbers grow with a factor of 8 from left to right

Hexadecimal Number System

• This number system has a radix of 16. It uses sixteen digits ranging from 0-9 and letters A-F where A is equivalent to 10, up to F which is equivalent to 16.
• The place value of hexadecimal numbers goes up in factors of sixteen as shown in the table below:

The table below clearly shows how hexadecimal numbers grow with a factor of 16 from left to right

Reasons for using octal and hexadecimal number systems

1. A single octal or hexadecimal digit encodes more than one binary digit. This is automatic data compression, hence storage mediums can save on space
2. Instead of transmitting long digits of '0's and '1's between devices, the data can be encoded as octal or hexadecimal to improve transmission efficiency.

Numeral systems conversion table

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