How many bits are there in a byte?

A byte is defined as a unit of digital information that consists of 8 bits. This has become a standardized measure in computing, where each bit represents a binary digit, either a 0 or a 1. The reason why 8 bits make up a byte is primarily historical: it allows for 256 possible combinations (from 00000000 to 11111111), which is enough to represent a wide range of characters and values including standard ASCII characters.

In contrast, the other options present incorrect values for the number of bits in a byte, as 4 bits would represent a nibble, while 16 bits and 32 bits correspond to larger data types known as words or double words in some architectures, rather than a single byte.