What is Hexadecimal Number

By Xah Lee. Last updated: . Last updated: .

Hexadecimal number is a notation system for numbers.

In hexadecimal numbering system, we represent numbers using 16 symbols. Each digit is any 0 to 9 and A to F (sometimes lowercase).

Here's examples:

decimalBinaryhexadecimal
000
111
2102
3113
41004
51015
61106
71117
810008
910019
101010a
111011b
121100c
131101d
141110e
151111f
161000010
171000111
181001012
191001113
201010014
211010115
221011016
231011117
241100018
251100119
26110101a
27110111b
28111001c
29111011d
30111101e
31111111f

Hexadecimal is used often in computing, because each hexadecimal digit is equivalent to 4 Binary digits, so is compact and more readable.

So, 4 bits can be written as 1 hexadecimal. 8 bits can be written as 2 hexadecimal, etc.

Possible Size in Hexadecimal Number

If a hexadecimal number has n digits, it has 16^n possible values.

number of digitspossible distinct values
116
2256
34096
465536

Binary, Hexadecimal