Correct Answer:
D. 8
In computer science, a byte is a fundamental unit of digital information. A byte is a combination of 8 bits. A bit, short for binary digit, is the smallest unit of data in a computer, representing either a 0 or a 1. Grouping eight bits together to form a byte allows for the representation of 256 different values (2^8), which is sufficient to encode a single character (like a letter, number, or symbol) in many standard character encoding schemes, such as ASCII.
- 4 (A) bits form a 'nibble', which is half a byte.
- 2 (B) bits can only represent four distinct values (00, 01, 10, 11).
- 16 (C) bits are often referred to as a 'word' or 'short integer' in some architectures, but the standard definition of a byte remains 8 bits.