CSC103 2011 Homework 1

--D. Thiebaut 17:13, 26 January 2011 (EST)

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This homework assignment is due on Wednesday Feb. 2nd, at 9:00 a.m. Please print it or write it on paper, and bring it to class on the due date. No late assignments will be accepted.

Question #1 (easy)

Write all the integer numbers equivalent to 1 to 32 decimal in binary. In other words, complete the list of number in the second column below:

Decimal      Binary
0                 0
1                 1
2                10
3                11
4                ...
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18 
19
20
21 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

Perform the following additions in binary:

    10001 + 10011 =

    11011 + 00101 =

Question #2 (challenging)

Assume that we live in a universe where everybody only has 4 fingers. Just as we did in class with a system of 2 digits (binary code), we invente a system for counting with only 4 digits: 0, 1, 2 and 3.

• Write the first 20 numbers of a system with 4 digits. To help you out, I will start with the first 5 numbers of the series:

0
1
2
3
10
...

Continue on until you have 20 consecutive numbers of a system in base 4.

Question #3 (more challenging)

Perform the addition of the following numbers in base 4.

    1002 + 1301 = 

    2222 + 1301 = 

Question #4 (moderately challenging)

Why is electricity a good source of energy for computers?

How fast does it take electricity to go from on point on earth to another point on the other side of the earth, assuming a metal wire could stretch between these two points? You'll have to do some research and find the speed of light and the circumference of the earth. Remember that we have a quantitative center that can help you if you find this part of the assignment not intuitive, which is perfectly Ok in this class! :-)

Express your answer in seconds, or milliseconds (0.001 sec), or microseconds (0.000001 sec).