Question

How are the bits arranged for single precision and double precision?

Answer 1

Single precision uses 32 bits while double precision uses 64 bits to represent floating-point numbers in computer systems.

Step-by-step explanation:

In computer systems, single precision and double precision are two formats used to represent floating-point numbers. Single precision uses 32 bits to store a floating-point number, while double precision uses 64 bits.

For single precision, the bits are arranged as follows:

• 1 bit for the sign (positive or negative)
• 8 bits for the exponent, which represents the range of the number
• 23 bits for the significant digits (also known as the mantissa or fraction)

For double precision, the bits are arranged as follows:

• 1 bit for the sign (positive or negative)
• 11 bits for the exponent, which represents the range of the number
• 52 bits for the significant digits (also known as the mantissa or fraction)