Hex Calculator / Converter
Use this tool in hex calculator mode to perform algebraic operations with hex numbers (add, subtract, multiply and divide hexadecimals). Use it in hex converter mode to easily convert a hex number to a decimal number, or a decimal number to a hex one (decimal to hex and hex to decimal converter), or to convert hex to binary and binary to hex.
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Hex to Decimal Converter
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What is a hex number?
A hex number, short for hexadecimal number, is a number expressed in the hexadecimal positional numeral system with a base of 16 which uses sixteen symbols: the numbers from 0 to 9 and the letters A,B,C,D,E, and F, to represent values from 0 to 15. Equivalently, small-case letters a through f can be used. For example, 10 in decimal is A in hex, 100 in decimal is 64 in hex, while 1,000 in decimal is 3E8 in hex. Hex numbers have signs, just like decimal ones, for example -1e is equal to -30 in decimal.
Hex numerals are used mostly in computing: computer system designers, software engineers and programmers as a convenient representation of the underlying binary systems. An ordinary person would encounter them every day when browsing the web since in website addresses (URLs) special characters are encoded as a hex numeral, e.g. %20 stands for "space" (blank). A lot of webpages also encode special characters in html in terms of their hexadecimal numerical character reference (ode), e.g. ’ is the Unicode for a single quotation mark (’).
Using our hex calculator, you can perform arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of hex numbers) as well as use it as a hex converter for hex to decimal, decimal to hex, hex to binary and binary to hex conversions.
Here is a table of some numbers represented in the decimal, hex and binary systems (base 10, base 2 and base 16).
Numbers in decimal, hex and binary
Decimal Hex Binary
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 10
3 3 11
5 5 101
10 A 1010
11 B 1011
12 C 1100
13 D 1101
14 E 1110
15 F 1111
50 32 110010
63 3F 111111
100 64 1100100
1000 3E8 1111101000
10000 2710 10011100010000
Converting to and from hex numerals
Converting numbers to and from hex does not change the number itself, it just changes its form. Using our hex converter above, you can do both types of conversions quickly and easily.
Hex to decimal
Each position in a hexadecimal numeral represents a power of 16 the same way each position in a decimal number represents a power of 10. For example, the number 20 in decimal is 2 · 101 + 0 · 100 = 20. The hex number 20 is then 2 · 161 + 0 · 160 = 32 in dec. Similarly, the number 1E is 1 · 16 + 14 · 1 = 30 in decimal.
The process of hex to decimal conversion is therefore to first take each position and convert it to decimal, e.g. 9 is 9, but B is converted to 11, then to multiply each position by 16 to the power of the position number, counting from right to left and starting at zero. If you need to calculate large exponents like 168 you might find our exponent calculator useful.
Decimal to hex
This process is a bit more complex as we are going from a higher base to a lower base. Let us say the number we want to convert from decimal to hex is X. Begin by finding the largest power of 16 ≤ X and denote it by E. Then determine how many times the power of 16 found above goes into X, denote it by Z1. Denote the remainder by Y1.
Repeat the above steps using Yn as a starting value until 16 is larger than the remaining value and assign the remainder to the 160 position, then assign each of the values Y1...n to its respective position and you will have your hex value.
Example dec to hex conversion: Convert 1000 in decimal to hex.
1.) Largest power E = 2 (162 = 256 ≤ 1000, 163 = 4,096 ≥ 1000)
2.) Z1 = 1000 / 162 = 3 (232 remainder); Y1 = 232
3.) Largest power E = 1 (161 = 16 ≤ 232, 162 = 256 ≥ 232)
4.) Z2 = 232 / 161 = 14 (8 remainder); Y2 = 8
5.) 8 < 16; Z3 = 8, end.
Combine Z1..n to get 3E8 (14 dec = E hex).
Hex to decimal and decimal to hex conversion follows the same principles, but with base 2 instead of base 10.
Algebraic operations with hexadecimal numbers
Using our tool in hex calculator mode you can perform the four basic arithmetic operations on hex numbers: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In order to do the hexadecimal calculations yourself most would prefer using a table for smaller numbers and a calculator for larger ones. Subtraction works the same way as any other number system, except when borrowing a number you need to borrow a group of 1610 instead of 1010 as you would with decimals.
Cite this calculator & page
If you'd like to cite this online calculator resource and information as provided on the page, you can use the following citation:
Georgiev G.Z., "Hex Calculator", [online] Available at: https://www.gigacalculator.com/calculators/hexadecimal-calculator.php URL [Accessed Date: 30 Jul, 2019].
