Understanding the Two's Complement System

[ehrenfest]

Homework Statement

let me check my understanding of what a twos complement

when you use the rs complement system that means you use that system to express negative numbers only; in order to express the rs complement of a number you take r^n - that number; however if the number you want to express is positive then you do not really use the twos complement system, so it is somewhat of a misnomer.

I mean that even if we are working in the two's complement system and we want to express 5 we do not take r^n - 5,we just write 5

does all that make sense

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

 

[kuba]

r's complement

r's complement is a way to express negation in a given radix r, when the number of available digits is limited to n-1.

So, by obtaining r's complement, you're really obtaining a negative number.

So, obviously, it doesn't apply to positive numbers unless you want to turn them negative :)

A complement, in given radix, always behaves as a negative number as long as the number of digits you're considering is less than n.