What are the steps to convert
1 - 1010 1100 - 010 1100 0000 0000 0000 1000, 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:
1010 1100
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
010 1100 0000 0000 0000 1000
2. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
1010 1100(2) =
1 × 27 + 0 × 26 + 1 × 25 + 0 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 0 × 20 =
128 + 0 + 32 + 0 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 0 =
128 + 32 + 8 + 4 =
172(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 = 172 - 127 = 45
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).
010 1100 0000 0000 0000 1000(2) =
0 × 2-1 + 1 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 1 × 2-4 + 1 × 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 + 0 × 2-17 + 0 × 2-18 + 0 × 2-19 + 1 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 0 × 2-22 + 0 × 2-23 =
0 + 0.25 + 0 + 0.062 5 + 0.031 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 =
0.25 + 0.062 5 + 0.031 25 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 =
0.343 750 953 674 316 406 25(10)
= -47 279 033 548 800
1 - 1010 1100 - 010 1100 0000 0000 0000 1000, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to a decimal number, written in base ten (float) = -47 279 033 548 800(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.