Logical Right Shift

Logical right shift: how to solve

A logical right shift moves the bits of a number to the right by a given amount. Bits that move past the right edge are discarded, and zeros are inserted on the left. This is different from arithmetic shifting, which may preserve a sign bit.

Method

1. Write the number in binary if it is not already shown in binary.
2. Shift every bit to the right by the required number of positions.
3. Fill the new leftmost positions with 0s.
4. Drop any bits that fall off the right end.
5. Simplify the result in the form requested by the exercise, often as a binary number or a decimal value.

Useful check

A logical right shift by 1 position is usually the same as dividing an unsigned binary number by 2 and keeping only the integer part. This makes a good quick check for reasonableness.

Example of the idea

If a binary number is shifted right by 1, every bit moves one place right, the last bit is removed, and a 0 is added at the front. Always verify that the total length is handled correctly and that no sign is preserved unless the exercise explicitly says so.