Hexadecimal to Decimal converter

How to convert Hexadecimal to Decimal?

Converting a hexadecimal number to its decimal equivalent involves a straightforward process. Each digit in the hexadecimal number is multiplied by the corresponding power of 16, and the results are summed to obtain the decimal value. Here are the steps to convert a hexadecimal number to decimal:

• Write down the hexadecimal number you want to convert.
• Assign a decimal value to each digit in the hexadecimal number. For digits 0 to 9, the decimal values are the same. For the letters A to F, use the following values: A = 10; B = 11; C = 12; D = 13; E = 14.
• Starting from the right, assign an increasing power of 16 to each digit, starting with 0 for the rightmost digit, 1 for the next digit to the left, and so on.
• Multiply each digit by 16 raised to the power assigned to it.
• Sum the results of these multiplications to obtain the decimal equivalent.

Here's an example:

Let's convert the hexadecimal number "1A" to decimal:

• "1A" consists of two digits: 1 and A.
• The decimal value of 1 is 1, and the decimal value of A is 10.
• Starting from the right, the rightmost digit (A) is at the power of 0, and the left digit (1) is at the power of 1.
• Multiply each digit by 16 raised to the appropriate power.
• Sum the results: 10 + 16 = 26

A (10) * 16^0 = 10 * 1 = 10

1 * 16^1 = 1 * 16 = 16

So, the hexadecimal number "1A" is equal to the decimal number 26.

What is Hexadecimal?

Hexadecimal, often abbreviated as "hex," is a base-16 numeral system used in mathematics and computing. It is a way of representing numbers using 16 distinct symbols, which include the regular decimal digits (0-9) and six additional symbols represented by the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F. In the hexadecimal system, each digit represents a power of 16, just as each digit in the decimal (base-10) system represents a power of 10.

In this system, the decimal numbers 0 to 15 are represented as 0 to F in hexadecimal. When the hexadecimal number system is used, it's often accompanied by a prefix "0x" or "x," especially in programming languages, to distinguish it from decimal numbers. For example, "0x1A" represents the decimal number 26.

Hexadecimal is commonly used in computer science and programming because it's a more concise and readable way to represent binary data (base-2) and memory addresses, where values often have a natural alignment with powers of 2. This makes it particularly useful for tasks such as working with machine code, memory dumps, color representations, and low-level data manipulation.