2000 General Studies, all questions
UPSC Prelims 2000 · General Studies
Question 98: Science and Technology
The memory of a computer is commonly expressed in terms of Kilobytes or Megabytes. A byte is made up of
aeight binary digits
beight decimal digits
ctwo binary digits
dtwo decimal digits
AnswerThe answer is (a).
A bit is a binary digit, 0 or 1. A byte is a group of eight bits, enough to represent one character, such as a letter or a digit. Computer memory is measured in bytes: a kilobyte is 1,024 bytes and a megabyte is 1,024 kilobytes. So a byte is made up of eight binary digits.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Right: eight binary digits make a byte.
- (b) Eight decimal digits is not how a byte is defined; computer memory works in binary digits.
- (c) Two binary digits make only four combinations, too few for a character.
- (d) Two decimal digits is also not the definition of a byte.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2000, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.