Answer to Question #23181 in Quantitative Methods for Sujata Roy

Question

One approach to handling fuzzy logic data might be to design a computer using ternary (base-3) logic so that data could be stored as “true,” “false,” and “unknown.” If each ternary logic element is called a flit, how many flits are required to represent at least 256 different values?
(A) 4 (B) 5 (C) 6 (D) 7 (E) 8

Answer 1

In binary representation, to represent 256 different values, you need log_2 (256) = 8 bits.

Similarly in ternary representation, you would require log_3 (256) which is 5.something. Now rounding off to the upper integer (since number of bits is an integer) and we get 6
Answer: (C).