BIN2DEC

Converts a binary number to decimal.

Syntax:

BIN2DEC(binarynumber)

returns a (decimal) number, given binarynumber, which may be text, or a number containing only digits 1 and 0 (thus the number appears to be binary although it is not).

binarynumber may have up to ten bits in two's complement representation; positive numbers are 0 to 111111111 (nine bits representing 0 to 511 decimal) and negative numbers 1111111111 to 1000000000 (ten bits representing -1 to -512 decimal)

Example:

BIN2DEC("110")

returns 6 as a number.

BIN2DEC(110)

returns 6. The number 110 has only 1 and 0 digits, and may be read as binary.

BIN2DEC("1111111110")

returns -2.

Application:

Let's consider a simple application of the BIN2DEC function from the world of digital electronics: an 8-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that controls the brightness of a light. The input to the DAC is an 8-bit binary number, and the output is an analog voltage that controls the light's brightness. The range of the binary number is from 00000000 to 11111111, which corresponds to a decimal range of 0 to 255.

A microcontroller sends a binary number to the DAC. We can use the BIN2DEC function in a spreadsheet to see the decimal value that corresponds to each binary input, which helps us understand the brightness level.

Example Scenario

Imagine we have a spreadsheet to monitor the input values sent to the DAC. We want to know the decimal value for each binary input to understand the brightness level on a scale of 0 to 255.

	Binary Input	Formula	Decimal Value (Brightness Level)
	A	B	C
1	00000000	BIN2DEC("00000000")	0 (Off)
2	00000001	BIN2DEC("00000001")	1
3	00000010	BIN2DEC("00000010")	2
4	01011001	BIN2DEC("01011001")	89
5	10101010	BIN2DEC("10101010")	170
6	11111111	BIN2DEC("11111111")	255 (Full Brightness)

In this example:

The "Binary Input" column represents the 8-bit binary number sent from the microcontroller.
The "Formula" column shows the BIN2DEC function.
The "Decimal Value" column displays the result of the function, which in this context represents a brightness level from 0 to 255. A value of 0 is off, and a value of 255 is the maximum brightness.

This simple example illustrates how the BIN2DEC function provides a bridge between the binary world of digital electronics and the more human-readable decimal system.