Which term describes a number system that uses 16 symbols, including A through F?

Which term describes a number system that uses 16 symbols, including A through F?

• A. RGB
• B. Lossless
• C. Hexadecimal Number System
• D. Metadata

Answer: (C)

Recognizing a base-16 numeral system is what this question is testing. In hex, there are 16 distinct symbols: 0 through 9 for values 0–9, and A through F for values 10–15. Each position represents a power of 16, and the use of A–F makes it compact for representing binary data, since one hex digit corresponds to four bits. That’s why hex is so common in computing, such as in color codes or memory addresses. The other terms describe different ideas: RGB is a color model for mixing light, not a numbering system; Lossless refers to a type of data compression that can be perfectly reconstructed; Metadata is information about data, not a numeral system. So the term that fits the description is the hexadecimal number system.

Recognizing a base-16 numeral system is what this question is testing. In hex, there are 16 distinct symbols: 0 through 9 for values 0–9, and A through F for values 10–15. Each position represents a power of 16, and the use of A–F makes it compact for representing binary data, since one hex digit corresponds to four bits. That’s why hex is so common in computing, such as in color codes or memory addresses.

The other terms describe different ideas: RGB is a color model for mixing light, not a numbering system; Lossless refers to a type of data compression that can be perfectly reconstructed; Metadata is information about data, not a numeral system. So the term that fits the description is the hexadecimal number system.