22.1k views
0 votes
In a K-bit machine, the largest unsigned integer number you can store in memory is?

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

The largest unsigned integer number you can store in a K-bit machine is 2^K - 1, where K represents the number of bits. Therefore, the storage capacity is dictated by these bits, and a megabyte (MB) consists of approximately one million bytes.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a K-bit machine, the largest unsigned integer number you can store in memory is 2^K - 1. This is because each bit can store a value of 0 or 1, so K bits can represent 2^K different combinations. However, as we start counting from zero, the largest number is one less than this total count. For instance, a 1-bit system can store 2 values (0 or 1), so a K-bit system stores values from 0 to 2^K - 1.

When discussing computer memory and storage, there are various units of measurement. A megabyte (MB) is a common unit, which is equal to 1,024 kilobytes (KB). Multiplicative prefixes indicate larger quantities, where one megabyte is comprised of approximately one million bytes. Therefore, the largest unsigned integer that can be stored on a machine depends directly on how many bits are used to store values in that system.

User Claudio Cortese
by
8.0k points