What is a byte, and how many distinct values can 1 byte represent?

• A. A byte is 8 bits; it can represent 256 distinct values.
• B. A byte is 4 bits; 16 values.
• C. A byte is 1 bit; 2 values.
• D. A byte is 16 bits; 65,536 values.

Answer: (D)

Eight bits make up a byte, and each bit can be 0 or 1. With eight bits, the number of possible patterns is 2^8, which equals 256. So one byte can represent 256 distinct values (commonly 0 to 255). The other options come from different bit lengths: four bits give 16 values, one bit gives 2 values, and sixteen bits give 65,536 values.