Conversion of Signed Numbers to Two’s Complement

Signed Numbers are 8 bit quantities with the least significant 7 bits representing the magnitude and the most significant bit indicating the sign. 0 in this bit indicates the number is positive, and 1 indicates it is negative. There is no magnitude information in this 8^th bit-just the sign.

To convert a negative signed number to two’s complement, first set the 8^th bit to zero. Then invert all 8 bits. Finally add 1. An example follows:

Signed Number:

10001111

set the 8^th bit to zero:

00001111

invert all 8 bits:

11110000

finally, add 1; resulting in the final two’s complement number:

11110001

If the 8^th bit is 0, indicating that the signed number is positive, the number requires no conversion. It’s two’s complement representation is the same as the signed magnitude representation.