What is a Bit?

The term “bit”, short for Binary Digit is the smallest and most basic unit of information on a machine. John Tukey, a leading statistician and presidential adviser coined the term in 1946. According to MSN Encarta, a bit is the smallest unit of information and the building blocks for all information processing in digital electronics and computers. A bit is represented by the numbers 1 and 0, which correspond to the states on and off, true and false, or yes and no. The number 1, which corresponds with on, yes, or true is used to represent a transistor, or semiconductor with current flowing through it. The number 0, which corresponds with off, no, or false represents no current flow. More complex information is obtained by combining consecutive bits into larger units. A byte, for example is composed of 8 consecutive bits. The symbol for bit as a unit of information is “b”. Graphics can often be described by the number of bits used to represent each dot. A 1 bit image is monochromatic, an 8 bit image allows for 256 colors or grayscales, and a 24 or 32 bit graphic supports full color.