What are the steps to convert
1 - 0011 1000 - 110 1000 0000 0000 0101 0010, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to decimal?
1. Identify the elements that make up the binary representation of the number:
The first bit (the leftmost) indicates the sign,
1 = negative, 0 = positive.
1
The next 8 bits contain the exponent:
0011 1000
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
110 1000 0000 0000 0101 0010
2. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
0011 1000(2) =
0 × 27 + 0 × 26 + 1 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 0 × 20 =
0 + 0 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 =
32 + 16 + 8 =
56(10)
3. Adjust the exponent.
Subtract the excess bits: 2(8 - 1) - 1 = 127,
that is due to the 8 bit excess/bias notation.
The exponent, adjusted = 56 - 127 = -71
4. Convert the mantissa from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The mantissa represents the fractional part of the number (what comes after the whole part of the number, separated from it by a comma).
110 1000 0000 0000 0101 0010(2) =
1 × 2-1 + 1 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 1 × 2-4 + 0 × 2-5 + 0 × 2-6 + 0 × 2-7 + 0 × 2-8 + 0 × 2-9 + 0 × 2-10 + 0 × 2-11 + 0 × 2-12 + 0 × 2-13 + 0 × 2-14 + 0 × 2-15 + 0 × 2-16 + 1 × 2-17 + 0 × 2-18 + 1 × 2-19 + 0 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 1 × 2-22 + 0 × 2-23 =
0.5 + 0.25 + 0 + 0.062 5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 007 629 394 531 25 + 0 + 0.000 001 907 348 632 812 5 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 000 238 418 579 101 562 5 + 0 =
0.5 + 0.25 + 0.062 5 + 0.000 007 629 394 531 25 + 0.000 001 907 348 632 812 5 + 0.000 000 238 418 579 101 562 5 =
0.812 509 775 161 743 164 062 5(10)
= -0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 767 627 748 391 240 26
1 - 0011 1000 - 110 1000 0000 0000 0101 0010, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to a decimal number, written in base ten (float) = -0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 767 627 748 391 240 26(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.