Question

Which encoding technique is commonly used to store negative numbers in computer memory?

A) Two's complement
B) One's complement
C) Sign-Magnitude
D) Binary Coded Decimal (BCD)

Answer 1

Two's complement is the encoding technique commonly used to store negative numbers in computer memory.

Step-by-step explanation:

The encoding technique commonly used to store negative numbers in computer memory is Two's complement. In two's complement, the most significant bit (MSB) of a number is used as the sign bit, where 1 represents a negative number and 0 represents a positive number.

The benefit of using two's complement is that arithmetic operations such as addition and subtraction can be performed using the same logic for both positive and negative numbers. For example, adding a positive number to a negative number in two's complement is the same as adding two positive numbers.

For example, in an 8-bit representation, the decimal value -5 would be stored as 11111011 in binary using two's complement.

The encoding technique commonly used to store negative numbers in computer memory is Two's complement. This method is favored because it simplifies the design of arithmetic circuits, allowing for easy addition and subtraction of binary numbers, including those with differing signs. In Two's complement, the leftmost bit indicates the sign of the number, where 0 represents a positive number and 1 signifies a negative one. The value of the negative number is determined by inverting all the bits of its absolute value and then adding 1.