How it works
Binary has two states, on and off. On is written as one, and off is written as zero.
One lamp can make two patterns. Every new lamp doubles the number of patterns.
Patterns can stand for anything, like the letters of the alphabet. Five lamps make 32 patterns, which is plenty for 26 letters.
Computers work the same way, with tiny switches that are on or off. Letters, numbers, pictures and music are all patterns of ones and zeros.
Worked examples
Writing a pattern
- Lamp 1 is on, lamp 2 is off and lamp 3 is on.
- On is 1 and off is 0.
- The pattern is written 101.
Doubling
- One lamp makes 2 patterns.
- A second lamp doubles it: 2 × 2 = 4. A third doubles it again: 4 × 2 = 8.
- Four lamps make 8 × 2 = 16 patterns, and five lamps make 16 × 2 = 32.
Two lamps
- Two lamps make four patterns: both off, the first on, the second on, and both on.
- Written with ones and zeros: 00, 10, 01 and 11.
- Each pattern can mean something different.