Numbers · interactive
How high can you count on ten fingers?
Finger up means add its value; finger down means skip it. Every hand pose is drawn in code.
1 See
Ten ordinary fingers show eleven tallies from zero through ten. Ten binary fingers make 1,024 patterns, so the highest value is 1,023.
2 Change
3 Understand
Model notes and sources
Model. Finger i is worth 2i, from 1 through 512. A raised finger contributes its value and a lowered finger contributes zero. The displayed number is therefore Σ biti·2i. Ten bits make 210 = 1,024 distinct patterns, representing the integers 0 through 1,023.
Hands. Both hands and every finger pose are drawn in code so the bit pattern is exact. The film avoids lingering on a hand with only a middle finger raised. The desk and chip are AI-generated illustrations; their screen text, switches and digits are drawn by the model.
Not modeled. Signed integers, fractions, character encodings and the physical transistor circuits inside a computer. The ten switches are a teaching analogy for bits, not a processor diagram.
Sources: NIST Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures, binary number; Binary number; Finger binary.
An ExplainerTools Original.
