Question

A video game character can face toward one of four directions: north, south, east, and west. Each direction is stored in memory as a sequence of four bits. A new version of the game is created in which the character can face toward one of eight directions, adding northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast to the original four possibilities. Which of the following statements is true about how the eight directions must be stored in memory?
A. Four bits are not enough to store the eight directions. Five bits are needed for the new version of the game.
B. Four bits are enough to store the eight directions
C. Four bits are not enough to store the eight directions. Sodeen bits are needed for the new version of the game.
D. Four bits are not enough to store the eight directions. Eight bits are needed for the new version of the game.

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Four bits are enough to store the eight directions

Explanation:

The summary of the question is to determine whether 4 bits can store 8 directions or not.

To understand this question properly, the 8 bits will be seen as 8 different characters.

In computer memory, a computer of n bits can store 2^n characters.

In this case:

$n = 4$ i.e. 4 bits

So:

$2^n = 2^4$

$2^n = 16$

This implies that the memory can store up to 16 characters.

Because 16 > 8, then (b) answers the question.