Question 9725 – Number-Systems

Consider the following 32-bit floating-point representation scheme as shown in the formal below. A value is specified by 3 fields, a one bit sign field (with 0 for positive and 1 for negative values), a 24 bit fraction field (with the binary point being at the left end of the fraction bits), and a 7 bit exponent field (in excess-64 signed integer representation, with 16 being the base of exponentiation). The sign bit is the most significant bit.

(a) It is required to represent the decimal value –7.5 as a normalized floating point number in the given format. Derive the values of the various fields. Express your final answer in the hexadecimal.

(b) What is the largest values that can be represented using this format? Express your answer as the nearest power of 10.

Correct Answer: A