A single place or symbol in a decimal number is called a **digit**. For example the number 34.3 is a number containing three digits. A digit can be any numeral through 0-9.
The equivalent entity in the [binary number system](/Hardware/Binary/The_binary_number_system.md) is the **bit**. For example the binary number 110 has three bits. A bit can only have one of two values in contrast to a digit which can have one of ten values: 0 or 1.
## Sequences of bits
The informational complexity of digit is much larger than a bit: it can represent one of 10 states whereas a bit can only represent one of two states. Therefore to express greater complexity we work with sequences of bits. Everytime we increase the binary place value of a binary number we are adding to the sequence and increasing the overall complexity of the number by a factor of 2.
The standard **base sequence** of bits is called a **byte**. This is a binary number comprising **eight bits**. For example the number `11001110` is a byte equivalent to 206 in decimal.
