Two's complement: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:59, 31 January 2025

Revision as of 18:00, 31 January 2025

Line 60:

==Theory==

Two's complement is an example of a [[Method of complements|radix complement]]. The 'two' in the name refers to the number {{math|2^''N''}} - "two to the power of N", which is the value in respect to which the complement is calculated in aan {{mvar|N}}-bit system (the only case where exactly 'two' would be produced in this term is {{math|''N'' {{=}} 1}}, so for a 1-bit system, but these do not have capacity for both a sign and a zero). As such, the precise definition of the ''two's complement'' of an {{mvar|N}}-bit number is the [[method of complements|complement]] of that number with respect to {{math|2^''N''}}.