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:
1000 1000
The last 23 bits contain the mantissa:
100 0101 0111 1100 1111 1001
1. Convert the exponent from binary (from base 2) to decimal (in base 10).
The exponent is allways a positive integer.
1000 1000(2) =
1 × 27 + 0 × 26 + 0 × 25 + 0 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 0 × 20 =
128 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 =
128 + 8 =
136(10)
2. 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 = 136 - 127 = 9
2. 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 0101 0111 1100 1111 1001(2) =
1 × 2-1 + 0 × 2-2 + 0 × 2-3 + 0 × 2-4 + 1 × 2-5 + 0 × 2-6 + 1 × 2-7 + 0 × 2-8 + 1 × 2-9 + 1 × 2-10 + 1 × 2-11 + 1 × 2-12 + 1 × 2-13 + 0 × 2-14 + 0 × 2-15 + 1 × 2-16 + 1 × 2-17 + 1 × 2-18 + 1 × 2-19 + 1 × 2-20 + 0 × 2-21 + 0 × 2-22 + 1 × 2-23 =
0.5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.031 25 + 0 + 0.007 812 5 + 0 + 0.001 953 125 + 0.000 976 562 5 + 0.000 488 281 25 + 0.000 244 140 625 + 0.000 122 070 312 5 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 015 258 789 062 5 + 0.000 007 629 394 531 25 + 0.000 003 814 697 265 625 + 0.000 001 907 348 632 812 5 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0 + 0 + 0.000 000 119 209 289 550 781 25 =
0.5 + 0.031 25 + 0.007 812 5 + 0.001 953 125 + 0.000 976 562 5 + 0.000 488 281 25 + 0.000 244 140 625 + 0.000 122 070 312 5 + 0.000 015 258 789 062 5 + 0.000 007 629 394 531 25 + 0.000 003 814 697 265 625 + 0.000 001 907 348 632 812 5 + 0.000 000 953 674 316 406 25 + 0.000 000 119 209 289 550 781 25 =
0.542 876 362 800 598 144 531 25(10)
= -789.952 697 753 906 25
1 - 1000 1000 - 100 0101 0111 1100 1111 1001 converted from a 32 bit single precision IEEE 754 binary floating point standard representation number to a decimal system number, written in base ten (float) = -789.952 697 753 906 25(10)
Spaces were used to group digits: for binary, by 4, for decimal, by 3.