When would you typically use hexadecimal notation?

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Hexadecimal notation is often used in computing and digital electronics primarily because it provides a more compact and human-readable way to represent binary values. In the context of expressing numbers greater than 10, hexadecimal allows for values that exceed the decimal numeral system's base of 10 by including additional symbols: A (10), B (11), C (12), D (13), E (14), and F (15). This makes it particularly useful in programming and computer science where large numbers and memory addresses are common.

In the PC architecture, hexadecimal is frequently utilized in programming due to its straightforward conversion to binary. Since each hexadecimal digit corresponds directly to a four-bit binary sequence, it is far more concise than using binary notation for large values, which can become cumbersome.

In contrast, other options do not accurately represent typical situations for employing hexadecimal notation. For instance, while binary file storage might use hexadecimal values for certain operations, it is not exclusive to hexadecimal. Decimal calculations are performed in the decimal system, and debugging text files typically involves visualizing data in readable formats rather than numerical notation. Thus, using hexadecimal for expressing numbers greater than 10 is the most fitting scenario in the context of this question.

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