Bit, which means binary digit in Portuguese, is the smallest unit of information that can be stored or transmitted in data communication, and a bit can only have 2 values, such as 0 or 1. Computers have commands that test and manipulate bits, these instructions are multiples of bits, which in turn are called bytes.
Byte is eight bits and these eight-bit bytes can also be called octets. There are several terms to speak of when referring to multiples of bits, such as kilobit (kb), megabit (Mb), and gigabit (Gb). For bit a lowercase "b" is used, and for byte an uppercase "B" (kB, MB, GB) is used.
The value of a bit is stored as an electrical charge within a memory device, but it can also be physically represented by various means, such as by electricity, through optical fibers, or in disc players and recorders, by electromagnetic waves, as in networks wireless).
Traffic volumes on computer networks are generally described in terms of bits per second.
