CompTIA Network+ Practice Test

How many bits are there in a byte?

1. Four bits

2. Eight bits

3. Sixteen bits

4. Two bits

The correct answer is: Eight bits

A byte consists of eight bits. This is a standard unit used in computing and telecommunications to represent a single character of data, such as a letter, digit, or symbol. The breakdown of how data is measured typically starts with bits, which are the smallest unit of data and can be either a 0 or a 1. When grouped together, these bits form a byte, which is capable of representing 256 different values (from 0 to 255) when it is used with unsigned binary values. This foundational building block of data storage and processing is essential in understanding how computers operate, as most modern systems use bytes as the minimum chunk of data for processing and memory allocation. Options that suggest there are four, sixteen, or two bits in a byte misrepresent this standard definition. The concept of a byte being four bits is often used in discussions about nibble, which is a collection of four bits, but it does not define a byte itself. Similarly, sixteen bits reference a more complex data type, such as a word or double word, while two bits pertain to very minimal data representation, neither of which corresponds to the commonly accepted definition of a byte.