WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BIT AND A BYTE?

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BIT AND A BYTE?

The IBM PC and its clones generally use 8 bits (electrical pulses) to make up a byte (computer word.) A ninth "odd bit" is used for error checking (parity testing) to make sure the other eight bits are not accidentally erased or lost during storage or use by the computer.

Bits are like alphabet characters and bytes are like the words made up from alphabet characters. Bits and Bytes are used to measure information by the computer.

BIT
Smallest unit of information recognized by the computer. BIT is short for Binary Digit. A Binary Digit can be either a 0 or a 1. Several bits make up a byte.

BYTE
A group of 8 BITS. This grouping of adjacent binary digits (bits) is operated on by the computer as a unit. Computers use 1

BYTE to represent 1 character such as a letter of the alphabet, a number, a punctuation mark, a space, etc. A BYTE is also a unit of measure since it represents 1 character.
For example, when the letter "A" is pressed, the keyboard actually sends the following to RAM: 10000001 - a set of 8 bits.