Bits & Bytes

Bit:

  . Abbreviated as 'b'.
  . Circuits in computer have two states ON/OFF.
  . ON is represented by number 1.
  . OFF is represented by number 0.
  . Computer stores information in its memory only with 0's and 1's.
  . Each 0 and 1 is called a 'bit'.
   . It is smallest unit of information.

Byte:

  . Abbreviated as 'B'.
  . 8 bits are grouped together to form 1 Byte.
  . Combination of 4 bits is called 1 nibble.
  . Each byte can store 1 character eg 'A', '1', '!' etc.
  . 1 byte can have 256 combinations i.e. 1's and 0's combinations.  

Why 8 Bits?

  . ASCII defined 7-bit character set.
  . One more extra bit is for all sort of things like parity.

How it works?

  . Anything we type from keyboard, it converts into ASCII value.
  . From this value, it is taken as bit representation and stores into the memory.

Bit rate:

  . Number of bits that are transmitted per second is called bit rate.
  . Measured as Kbps, Mbps etc.
  . For example we have 1 Mbps speed of internet connection, and file size is 1 MB, it is downloaded in 8 seconds.

Different sizes: