What are the steps to convert
1 - 1111 1110 - 100 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000, 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:
1111 1110
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
100 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000
2. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
1111 1110(2) =
1 × 27 + 1 × 26 + 1 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 1 × 21 + 0 × 20 =
128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 0 =
128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 =
254(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 = 254 - 127 = 127
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).
100 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000(2) =
1 × 2-1 + 0 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 0 × 2-4 + 0 × 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 + 0 × 2-18 + 0 × 2-19 + 0 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 0 × 2-22 + 0 × 2-23 =
0.5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.007 812 5 + 0.003 906 25 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 =
0.5 + 0.007 812 5 + 0.003 906 25 =
0.511 718 75(10)
= -257 205 617 184 381 221 406 886 666 164 246 675 456
1 - 1111 1110 - 100 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000, a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point representation standard to a decimal number, written in base ten (float) = -257 205 617 184 381 221 406 886 666 164 246 675 456(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.