Analogue and Digital Data
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There are specific appliances that are used to convert one type of analogue data to another type while also converting analogue to digital and vice versa. For example, when you speak, sound waves travel through the air into a microphone. The microphone converts the sound waves into an electrical signal that travels along a wire. This signal is then converted into digital data through a device called an ADC (Analogue to Digital Converter). However, in order to use this digital data later on, you will need to convert it into analogue data. This can be done with a DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter). The electric signal once again travels along a wire and is converted into sound waves through speakers or headphones.
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In order to calculate analogue and digital data so that it can be transformed into information that can be interpreted by humans, it is necessary to use specific types of technology. These technologies are the types of converters that were previously mentioned. Since raw data will usually be in the form of energy or code, it is impossible for humans to understand. Therefore, the data must be converted to information by software that calculates it and then represents it in the form of text, tables or images. Analogue data that takes the form of sounds can also be calculated and recorded physically, without the need of software.
The most common form of digital data is binary form. The data is represented by only using the digits ‘1 and 0’, where 1 means ‘on’ and 1 means ‘off’. The computer can interpret this data, calculate it and change it into information to be used by people. Each digit is called a bit while 8 bits are called a byte. In the past, there were many types of devices used to calculate digital data. Some of these include the abacus, beacon, morse code, Braille system and signal flags. All of these devices use signals and codes as data that humans must learn to interpret before it can be made sense of. For example, morse code uses either electricity or light to create short sounds or flashes. Humans must learn to read these flash patterns in order for morse code to be effective. In modern times, modems have been invented as a digital system. This device encodes digital data as a series of binary digital sound pulses.