CSC103 Homework Assignment 1

This homework assignment is due on Wednesday Sept. 17th, at 9:00 a.m. No late assignments will be accepted.

Question 1 (easy)

Perform the following additions in binary:

    10001 + 10011 =

    11011 + 00101 =

Question 2 (challenging)

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

• Write the first 15 numbers of a system with 3 digits. To help you out, I will start with the first 5 numbers of the series:

0
1
2
10
11
...

Continue on until you have 15 consecutive numbers of a system in base 3 (that's the name of a system where we only have 3 digits. The decimal system is a system in base 10. The binary system is a system in base 2).

=Question 3 (harder; optional and extra credit)=

Perform the addition of the following numbers in base 3.

    1002 + 1101 = 

    2222 + 0001 = 

Question 4

Why is it that when you go to a computer store to buy a USB memory stick, you find only sticks with capacities that read 128 X, 512 X, 1 Y, 2 Y, 4 Y, 8 Y (where X and Y represent some unit of memory storage)?

Question 5

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! :-)