The standard qwerty keyboard has 47 keys that can place characters on the screen. each of these keys can also display a second character by holding the "shift" key at the same time. how many bits would you need to encode everything that could be typed on this keyboard?

You need 7 bits to encode everything that could be typed on this keyboard.

Explanation:

The encoding of the QWERTY keyboard is based on the extended ASCII encoding. The "ASCII" code was created by the "American standards association" in 1963.The acronym of “American Standard Code for Information Interchange” is ASCII. ASCII is a 7-bit code.

Further Explanation:

The QWERTY keyboard is the standard computer and typewriter keyboard design for Latin-script alphabets. The first six letters of the keyboard's upper row indicate its name.  Christopher Latham Sholes designed the layout of the keyboard for his "Type-Writer".  It was first mass-produced in 1874.

In QWERTY keyboard, extended American Standard for Information Interchange (ASCII) method is used for characters encoding. Alphabetical order of English language is the base of ASCII method of characters encoding.

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Keywords:

QWERTY keyboard, The encoding of the QWERTY keyboard, American Standard for Information Interchange, ASCII

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