1.2 Representing characters and character sets

How is all data, including characters, stored in a computer system?

• As electrical signals

• As analog waves

• As binary codes (0s and 1s)

• As hexadecimal values

What is the maximum number of unique characters that can be represented by a single binary digit?

• 1

• 2

• 4

• 8

What is the minimum number of bits required to represent all 26 letters of the English alphabet (case-insensitive)?

• 4 bits

• 5 bits

• 6 bits

• 7 bits

Why are character sets standardized?

• To reduce the storage space required for text.

• To allow different computer systems to correctly interpret and exchange text data.

• To simplify the process of typing characters on a keyboard.

• To enable the creation of new emojis and symbols.

How many characters can be represented by an 8-bit character set like Extended ASCII?

• 128

• 256

• 512

• 1024

What was the primary purpose of the numbers 0 to 31 in the ASCII character set?

• To represent common punctuation marks.

• To store numerical values for calculations.

• To reserve space for special characters and computer instructions.

• To encode foreign language characters.

What is the main advantage of the Unicode character set compared to older character sets like ASCII?

• It uses fewer bits per character, saving storage space.

• It is specifically designed for English language characters only.

• It can represent characters from every written language, historical scripts, and modern symbols like emojis.

• It is primarily used for sound and image encoding.

Why might a text file be saved using ASCII encoding instead of Unicode, even though Unicode supports a wider range of characters?

• ASCII files are more secure and less prone to corruption.

• ASCII encoding results in smaller file sizes when additional characters are not needed.

• Unicode is not compatible with older computer systems.

• ASCII offers better visual rendering of text.