The Kangzi dictionary compiled in China in 1710 during the Qing dynasty encompasses 46964 characters. How many bits would it take to specify a specific Kangzi character?
To determine the number of bits required to specify a specific Kangzi character, we need to calculate the logarithm of the number of possible characters to the base 2.
The Kangzi dictionary encompasses 46,964 characters. To specify a specific character, we need to have a unique identifier for it. For simplicity, let's assume the identifier is an index number from 1 to 46,964.
To find the number of bits required to represent these index numbers, we need to find the logarithm of the number of possible characters (46,964) to the base 2.
Mathematically, it can be represented as:
Number of bits = log2(number of characters)
Using this formula, we can calculate the number of bits required:
Number of bits = log2(46,964)
Using a calculator, this gives us approximately 15.51.
Since we cannot have fractions of bits, we would need to round up to the nearest whole number. Therefore, it would take approximately 16 bits to specify a specific Kangzi character from the dictionary.