1. What is Hexadecimal?

Hexadecimal (or hex) is a base-16 number system used in computing and mathematics. It uses 16 distinct symbols: 0-9 to represent values zero to nine, and A-F to represent values ten to fifteen.

2. How Character to Hex Conversion Works

Each character has a numerical ASCII value which can be represented in hexadecimal format. The conversion process:

Example: The character 'A' has ASCII value 65, which is 41 in hexadecimal.

3. ASCII Character Encoding

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding standard that assigns numerical values to letters, digits, punctuation marks, and other characters.

Standard ASCII: 7-bit encoding (0-127)
Extended ASCII: 8-bit encoding (0-255)

4. Using the Calculator

Instructions: Enter any single character (letter, number, symbol) in the input field and click "Convert" to see its hexadecimal and decimal ASCII values.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What characters can be converted?
A: Any ASCII character including letters (A-Z, a-z), numbers (0-9), and special characters (!@#$% etc.).

Q2: How are multi-byte characters handled?
A: This calculator shows the hex value for the first byte only. For Unicode characters, use a UTF-8 converter.

Q3: Why is hexadecimal used in computing?
A: Hex is convenient because it can represent every byte as two consecutive digits and is easier to read than binary.

Q4: What's the difference between 0x41 and 41 in hex?
A: 0x is a prefix indicating hexadecimal notation. Both represent the same value, but 0x makes it explicit that it's hex.

Q5: Can I convert hex back to character?
A: Yes, the reverse process (hex to character) is also possible using the same conversion principles.