Binary: The term binary applies to any system of two values. For example, on/off, 1/0, black/white.
Bit: bit stands for binary digit. In computer science, a bit is represented as either a zero or one. A bit is the most basic unit of memory used by all computers. Bits can be stored as magnetic signals (hard drives), light signals (CDs, DVDs) and electrical signals (RAM, transistors).
It is important for everyone who uses a computer to understand what a bit is, because every song you buy, file you download, document you write and picture you create on the computer is saved as bits. In order to effectively and reliably use these bits of information, you need to understand terms such as bit, gigabit, byte, megabyte and gigabyte, so that you will know how to save and backup the files on your computer, and how to increase the memory on your computer when it runs out of space (on the hard drive) or starts to run slowly because it doesn't have enough memory (RAM). Without this knowledge, you may lose your existing music and document files, be unable to save new files, or have to endure a slow computer that could be easily upgraded with additional memory.
Byte:
Transistor:
Hard Drive:
Optical Disc (CD, DVD):
RAM:
CPU: