In what mode do computers calculate numbers?

Answer 1

I do not know what you mean by the word mode; however, I am still going to try my hand at mind reading again. Here we go....

THE IMMEDIATE ANSWER IS:
We will start with the bottom line, binary numbers, base two, zero or one. The computer only recognizes two states of electricity/magnetism or a pit or no pit etc.... depending on the media being read.

The binary number system is "the mode" of computers. Computers calculate by having switches physically flip other switches, "we'll leave the light on for ya". Computers are built to recognize binary numbers in any form as cardinal, ordinal or nominal numbers, see link below for quick simple examples of cardinal, ordinal or nominal numbers.

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875618.html

PSEUDO ENCYCLOPEDIC ANSWER IS:

Computers are physically designed/engineered to work off of two states. In order to avoid an electrical engineering conversation, we will call those two states by the following.

This much or
that much electricity, current, energy.

As far as I am concerned, the first lighthouse was the first computer. Actually, before lighthouses I am sure some group of cavemen somewhere eventually used a lit torch to represent something such as we are here or get away from my woman. Hence, day one of the computer is the first time light/the absence of light or anything else for that matter was used to convey a message. Yes, I know I am stretching it, or am I?

Is anyone thinking smoke signals? I hope so, smoke then no smoke.... One of my grandfathers was an American Indian, really.

In the first electronic computers, the current, electricity, turned on vacuum tubes or left the vacuum tubes turned off. All of the vacuum tubes were hopefully not burned out, ready to glow. Regardless, the bulbs sat there waiting to glow or not glow.

The columns and rows of vacuum tubes, array, was big and the entire machine was precisely designed as well as massive, an example being the ENIAC.

Copy and paste the link below into your address bar or go to Google, click Images and search ENIAC.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=eniac&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=yyLfSt3gOqbj8Aa0qb1j&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCMQsAQwAw

The "programmers" of the first computers were often women, because most of the men were dodging bullets in far corners of the world in WWII battles, GOD bless em all.

They programmed the first computer essentially by physically setting/placing/plugging in many wires and presetting switches. Once the entire machine/computer was set and ready to go, they would turn it on so to speak, and the rows of lights would light up according to a predetermined code which was set up at the other end of the machine as stated in the first sentence of this paragraph.

Accordingly, the answer which was typically a large number(s) would be decoded and written down.

How would the answer be decoded which is what I hope you just asked yourself?

The answer would be decoded by looking at the rows of lights. Each row represented a number 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 6, 7, 8 or 9, which is the number system we are taught from day one in school, the decimal number system, base 10.

I do not know if letters were also preset in the first computers. Since the numbers were already set in the machine/computer, the same procedures to create that representation of those numbers with rows of vacuum tubes could have been used to preset the letters of any alphabet.

Today's computers flip arrays of microscopic switches instead of vacuum tubes. Those microscopic switches are quickly becoming nanoscopic.

I have one word for ya kid, Nanotechnology.

The previous statement was paraphrased from the classic movie, "The Graduate". In that flick's day (1960s or so), the one word was plastic. Have you used any good plastic lately? Actually the one word could have also been plastics, but who cares ;) right?

In a keep it simple conclusion, computers are designed to physically show us the results of math done with binary numbers. There are only two numbers in the binary number system, 0 or 1 (zero or one) and only two needed levels of energy in the machine, this much or that much.

See the link/web page below to see how the ASCII coding system has been used to turn microscopic transistors on and of to represent our keystrokes.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&sa=1&q=ascii+table&aq=5&oq=asc&aqi=g10&start=0

I hope I have answered your question or at least started some kind of good.