What are the steps to convert
1 - 0101 0101 - 110 1101 1000 0000 0010 1010, 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:
0101 0101
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
110 1101 1000 0000 0010 1010
2. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
0101 0101(2) =
0 × 27 + 1 × 26 + 0 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 0 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 1 × 20 =
0 + 64 + 0 + 16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1 =
64 + 16 + 4 + 1 =
85(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 = 85 - 127 = -42
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 1101 1000 0000 0010 1010(2) =
1 × 2-1 + 1 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 1 × 2-4 + 1 × 2-5 + 0 × 2-6 + 1 × 2-7 + 1 × 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 + 0 × 2-17 + 1 × 2-18 + 0 × 2-19 + 1 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 1 × 2-22 + 0 × 2-23 =
0.5 + 0.25 + 0 + 0.062 5 + 0.031 25 + 0 + 0.007 812 5 + 0.003 906 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 003 814 697 265 625 + 0 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0 + 0.000 000 238 418 579 101 562 5 + 0 =
0.5 + 0.25 + 0.062 5 + 0.031 25 + 0.007 812 5 + 0.003 906 25 + 0.000 003 814 697 265 625 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0.000 000 238 418 579 101 562 5 =
0.855 473 756 790 161 132 812 5(10)
= -0.000 000 000 000 421 885 887 769 840 595 140 635 73
1 - 0101 0101 - 110 1101 1000 0000 0010 1010, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to a decimal number, written in base ten (float) = -0.000 000 000 000 421 885 887 769 840 595 140 635 73(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.