What are the steps to convert
0 - 1111 1100 - 000 0000 1000 0000 0000 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.
0
The next 8 bits contain the exponent:
1111 1100
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
000 0000 1000 0000 0000 1010
2. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
1111 1100(2) =
1 × 27 + 1 × 26 + 1 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 0 × 20 =
128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 0 =
128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 =
252(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 = 252 - 127 = 125
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).
000 0000 1000 0000 0000 1010(2) =
0 × 2-1 + 0 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 0 × 2-4 + 0 × 2-5 + 0 × 2-6 + 0 × 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 + 0 × 2-18 + 0 × 2-19 + 1 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 1 × 2-22 + 0 × 2-23 =
0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.003 906 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0 + 0.000 000 238 418 579 101 562 5 + 0 =
0.003 906 25 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0.000 000 238 418 579 101 562 5 =
0.003 907 442 092 895 507 812 5(10)
= 42 701 500 070 614 431 546 210 861 679 634 284 544
0 - 1111 1100 - 000 0000 1000 0000 0000 1010, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to a decimal number, written in base ten (float) = 42 701 500 070 614 431 546 210 861 679 634 284 544(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.