Converting Binary IP Addresses to Decimal

Binary Numbers

Binary numbers are base 2 numbers; within binary numbers, only the following two unique symbols are used as digits:

0 1

Just as for decimal numbers, when multiple binary symbols are combined to create a binary number, each digit in the number is weighted based on its position within the number. The weights used are all powers of 2 (which is what base 2 means). The rightmost digit, which is the least significant, has a weight of 2⁰ (1). The next digit has a weight of 2¹ (2). The next has a weight of 2² (4), and so on.

Consider the binary number 11001010. This number is read as "one one zero zero one zero one zero." This representation can get tedious after only a few digits and isn't practical in our everyday decimal world. Therefore, we typically convert binary numbers to decimal numbers.