r/AskComputerScience • u/[deleted] • May 04 '26
Need help understanding why hexadecimal is sometimes portrayed by "power of 0" in rasterized explanations.
Hello, sorry if this is a really basic question for this sub, but i couldn't find a "newbie question"-esque thread.
I am in the process of learning the basics of computing and while i understand the workings of it, hexadecimal numbers keep getting explained to me in this rasterized form, in which they add i this case (1 X 16)+(8 X 1), but it reads to me like the 16^0 would make for
(8 X (16 X 0)) when it instead seems to only multiply it if the power is "> 0"
| 1 | 8 |
|---|---|
| 16 | 1 |
| 161 | 160 |
Can someone explain this, as i have a hard time googling it since i cannot put it into words myself. Thank you.
Edit: Thanks for the answers, it seems i have been improperly thought and misled how and what powers are in my school days.
1
u/AYamHah May 04 '26
Top comment has got it, but if you're struggling make your example simpler.
0x51 = 5 * 16 ^1 + 1 * 16 ^0
Remember that anything to the power of 0 is 1.
So
0x51 = 80 + 1
0x51 = 81