You can use this abacus to investigate how different number bases work. Common bases in Computing and GCSE Computer Science are base 2 (binary), base 8 (octal) and base16 (hexadecimal).
Click on the beads to slide them left or right. Work in base
1
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
0
2
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
0
4
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
0
8
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
![Blue bead](graphics/bead_blue.png)
0
16
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
![Yellow bead](graphics/bead_yellow.png)
0
32
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
![Red bead](graphics/bead_red.png)
0
64
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
![Brown bead](graphics/bead_brown.png)
0
128
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
![Green bead](graphics/bead_green.png)
0
0
The purpose of this abacus is to introduce KS3 Computing and GCSE Computer Science students to different number bases, including binary and hexadecimal.