What are the steps to convert
1 - 1011 1000 - 011 0010 1000 0110 1100 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:
1011 1000
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
011 0010 1000 0110 1100 1000
2. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
1011 1000(2) =
1 × 27 + 0 × 26 + 1 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 0 × 20 =
128 + 0 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 =
128 + 32 + 16 + 8 =
184(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 = 184 - 127 = 57
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).
011 0010 1000 0110 1100 1000(2) =
0 × 2-1 + 1 × 2-2 + 1 × 2-3 + 0 × 2-4 + 0 × 2-5 + 1 × 2-6 + 0 × 2-7 + 1 × 2-8 + 0 × 2-9 + 0 × 2-10 + 0 × 2-11 + 0 × 2-12 + 1 × 2-13 + 1 × 2-14 + 0 × 2-15 + 1 × 2-16 + 1 × 2-17 + 0 × 2-18 + 0 × 2-19 + 1 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 0 × 2-22 + 0 × 2-23 =
0 + 0.25 + 0.125 + 0 + 0 + 0.015 625 + 0 + 0.003 906 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 122 070 312 5 + 0.000 061 035 156 25 + 0 + 0.000 015 258 789 062 5 + 0.000 007 629 394 531 25 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 =
0.25 + 0.125 + 0.015 625 + 0.003 906 25 + 0.000 122 070 312 5 + 0.000 061 035 156 25 + 0.000 015 258 789 062 5 + 0.000 007 629 394 531 25 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 =
0.394 738 197 326 660 156 25(10)
= -201 002 957 624 311 808
1 - 1011 1000 - 011 0010 1000 0110 1100 1000, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to a decimal number, written in base ten (float) = -201 002 957 624 311 808(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.