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What is the storage capacity of a Hollerith card which is organized into nibbles?
Answer & Solution
Correct Answer:
Option
D
240 is the storage capacity of a Hollerith card which is organized into nibbles.
A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Digital data can be used for data processing applications or, in earlier examples, used to directly control automated machinery.
A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Digital data can be used for data processing applications or, in earlier examples, used to directly control automated machinery.
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LoginA Hollerith card (also called a punched card) was an early data storage medium used in computing.
A standard Hollerith card has 80 columns.
Each column could store 1 character.
Characters were encoded using a 4-bit code (nibble) or sometimes 6–8 bits depending on the system.
But when organized into nibbles:
Each column = 1 nibble = 4 bits.
1 byte = 2 nibbles.
So, 80 columns = 80 nibbles
And each nibble = 4 bits
Total bits = 80 × 4 = 320 bits
Now convert bits to nibbles directly:
A Hollerith card often had 12 rows and 80 columns. In some encoding schemes, each punch (column) can represent up to 3 nibbles depending on how data is packed.
So for 80 columns × 3 nibbles = 240 nibbles