When broken down to it's most basic of operations, our everyday, run of the mill computing devices operate of a binary system. Binary meaning a set of two pairs, those to pairs are 0 and 1.
0 equals 0, 1 equals 1.
How do we make any number higher than 1?
Well each set of 0 or 1 is considered a bit (i like to think of it as a bit of something bigger) and we can pair them together. So 2 in binary weirdly is 10.
To explain that i need to let you know that if we have 8 bits together we call that a byte (the puns write themselves).
In a byte we can have all a minimum of 0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 and a maximum of 1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1 but again that doesn't translate to 11,111,111.
In the binary system, each bit represents an increasing power of 2, with the rightmost bit representing 2^0, the next representing 2^1, then 2^2, and so on.
Another way to think about it would be 128|64|32|16|8|4|2|1 ; if there's anyone 1 in the binary that's the number it'll represent you simply add them together to find out what number is being shown. all 0's mean...well 0 and all 1's you add them so 255
But let's try something not the absolute max or min, let's do: 0|1|0|1|0|0|0|1 we can translate that to mean 1 + 16 + 64 = 81. Another one? Sure! 0|1|0|0|1|0|1|1 let's add them up 1 + 2 + 8 + 64 = 77.
Binary isn't only just for regular numbers, it can represent alphabets, decimals, fractions and even negative numbers. They still operate like a light switch so to speak; either one or off, no middle ground, no dimmer switch...but what if there was?
Imagine for a second we have a cat in a box (i know super weird left turn we just made, but trust me), in that box we also have a vial of poison that's 100% guaranteed to kill the fluff ball, we also have a timer attached to the vial, and 50% of the time it'll break the vial and 50% of the time does nothing. We seal the box and we wait...we hear the timer go off. Is Whiskers dead (0), is he alive(1)? Could he be both?
That thought experiment is know as Schrodinger's Cat paradox.
An snippet from Wikipedia:
"The EPR article highlighted the counterintuitive nature of quantum superpositions, in which a quantum system such as an atom or photon can exist as a combination of multiple states corresponding to different possible outcomes.
The prevailing theory, called the Copenhagen interpretation, says that a quantum system remains in superposition until it interacts with, or is observed by, the external world. When this happens, the superposition collapses into one or another of the possible definite states."
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat
You may be thinking how does this have any relation to binary and computing.
Quantum Computers!!!!
IBM is developing a computer that doesn't run of a bits like 0's and 1s. But it's quantum counterpart the Qubit. No longer being held down by a simple binary system of on's or off's but instead a superposition of both. Is it a 1 is it a 0? Yes!
"No cat was hurt making this blog"
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