IP addresses (IPv4, IPv6) in Intro to Computing - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding IPv4 Address Structure

Which of the following best describes the structure of a standard IPv4 address?

A Four groups of decimal numbers separated by dots, each group ranging from 0 to 255

B Eight groups of hexadecimal numbers separated by colons, each group ranging from 0 to FFFF

C A single 32-bit binary number without any separators

D Four groups of decimal numbers separated by commas, each group ranging from 0 to 999

💡 Hint

Think about how IPv4 addresses are commonly written in everyday use.

IPv4 addresses are written as four decimal numbers separated by dots. Each number can be from 0 to 255 because each group represents 8 bits (1 byte).

❓ trace

intermediate

Converting IPv4 to Binary

What is the binary representation of the IPv4 address 192.168.1.1?

A 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001

B 11000000.10101000.00000010.00000001

C 11000001.10101000.00000001.00000001

D 11000000.10101001.00000001.00000001

💡 Hint

Convert each decimal number to an 8-bit binary number.

192 in binary is 11000000, 168 is 10101000, 1 is 00000001. So the full address is 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001.

❓ identification

advanced

Identifying Valid IPv6 Address Format

Which of the following is a valid IPv6 address?

A 192.168.1.1

B 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334

C 2001.0db8.85a3.0000.0000.8a2e.0370.7334

D 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334:12345

💡 Hint

IPv6 addresses use colons and hexadecimal groups.

Option B is a valid IPv6 address with eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons. Option B is IPv4. Option B uses dots incorrectly. Option B has a group with too many digits.

❓ Comparison

advanced

Comparing IPv4 and IPv6 Address Lengths

Which statement correctly compares the length of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses?

A IPv4 addresses are 128 bits long; IPv6 addresses are 32 bits long

B IPv4 addresses are 16 bits long; IPv6 addresses are 64 bits long

C Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are 64 bits long

D IPv4 addresses are 32 bits long; IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long

💡 Hint

Recall the bit length of each IP version.

IPv4 uses 32 bits allowing about 4 billion addresses. IPv6 uses 128 bits, vastly increasing address space.

🚀 Application

expert

Calculating Number of Possible IPv6 Addresses

Given that an IPv6 address is 128 bits long, how many unique IPv6 addresses are possible?

A Approximately 2.1 x 10^12 addresses

B Approximately 1.6 x 10^19 addresses

C Approximately 3.4 x 10^38 addresses

D Approximately 4.3 x 10^9 addresses

💡 Hint

Calculate 2 to the power of 128.

2^128 equals about 3.4 x 10^38, which is the total number of unique IPv6 addresses.