2. Bit, Nibble, Byte

Bit

A 'bit' (short for Binary Digit) is the smallest unit of data that can be stored by a computer. Each 'bit' is represented as a binary number, either 1 (true) or 0 (false). (Roll over the image below )

Byte

A 'byte' contains 8 bits, so for example, it could be stored as 11101001.

A single keyboard character that you type, such as the letter A or the letter T takes up one byte of storage.

Roll over the image to see the letter A in binary format (ascii code)

Nibble

This is not a very commonly used term compared to bit and byte. It is the term given to a group of four bits. Therefore two nibbles make a byte.

The reason it is not very common is because most microprocessors use groups of 8 bits and higher i.e. They use one or more bytes to process data. Not many devices make use of a nibble.