Wonderful whys · 50/50 · Ages 8–10
A computer’s pretend lunch
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Fox jokes, “Does a computer eat bytes?” In English, byte sounds like bite, but a byte is a data unit. A modern byte contains eight bits, not a snack.
What you will discover
- A bit has two possible values: zero or one.
- A byte is a unit of digital data made of eight bits in modern usage.
English vocabulary
- byte
- byte
- bite
- miếng cắn
Let’s play
One byte has 8 bits. How many bits are in 2 bytes?
See the explanation
8 + 8 = 16 bits. The snack joke works because byte and bite sound alike.
Practise touch typing
Place your hands on F and J and type this sentence using ten fingers.
A byte has eight bits, not eight biscuits.
Two little quiz questions
1. What is a byte?
- A data unit
- A real biscuit
- A type of mouse food
Answer and explanation
A data unit. A byte measures digital data.
2. Why is “a computer eats bytes” a joke in English?
- Byte sounds like bite
- Computers need lunch
- All data is bread
Answer and explanation
Byte sounds like bite. The wordplay uses matching sounds with different meanings.
Read more with an adult: IBM: Eight-bit bytes