Probably a dumb question

Why isn't there a 0.5 in binary data, Isn't data Stored on a hard drive by a magnetic charge so why not halve it to represent 0.5 and wouldn't this shrink data storage?

Originally posted by leestatic
Why isn't there a 0.5 in binary data, Isn't data Stored on a hard drive by a magnetic charge so why not halve it to represent 0.5 and wouldn't this shrink data storage?

Well then it wouldn't be binary, would it? It would be called tertiary, which in fact is already being used. It's called three state logic. In computer systems you can have a common bus IF you have a state that says 'I will not affect the state of the bus so other binary types can communicate with the big boss CPU.

In a conventional hard drive, data is stored through a small magnetic piece of material which can either be pointed upwards or downwards. Since a bit only has 2 possible states it can be in, it can only represent a 0 or a 1.