The microoperation which divides a signed binary number by 2 is :  

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UGC NET Computer Science (Paper 2) 07 Dec 2023 Official Paper
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  1. Circular shift 
  2. Logical shift  
  3. Arithmetic shift right  
  4. Arithmetic shift left 

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 3 : Arithmetic shift right  
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Detailed Solution

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The correct answer is Arithmetic Shift Right

Key Points

  • Arithmetic Shift Right:
    • An arithmetic right shift operation moves bits one position to the right, similar to logical shift.
    • However, in this case, the leftmost bit (sign bit) stays the same to preserve the number's sign. T
    • his means a positive number remains positive, and a negative number remains negative, so an arithmetic right shift can correctly divide signed binary numbers by 2.

Additional Information

  • Circular Shift:
    • In a circular shift operation, the bits are moved one position to the left or right in a way that the bit at one end does not get lost but instead moves to the other end.
    • If a bit is shifted out from the right end, it inserts at the left end, and vice versa. This maintains the number of bits in the data.
  • Logical Shift:
    • Logical shifts are used for unsigned binary numbers. In a logical right shift, the bits are moved one position to the right, and a '0' is added at the left-most bit.
    • This is equivalent to division by 2 for unsigned binary numbers but doesn't work for signed numbers (where the left-most bit is a sign bit) because it changes the sign of the number.
  • Arithmetic Shift Left:
    • In an arithmetic left shift, bits are moved one position to the left, and a '0' is added in the least significant bit (rightmost bit), doubling the number.
    • The sign bit (the leftmost bit) remains the same, so signed numbers stay positive or negative. This operation is similar to multiplying a signed binary number by 2.
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