218 = 262,144 < 333,414 < 524,288 = 219. It takes somewhere between 18 and 19 bits to represent any number in [0..333,413] (more accurately, it takes log2 333,414 ≈ 18.3 bits).
8*2 = 16 < 18 < 19 < 24 = 8*3. It takes three eight-bit bytes to hold 19 bits.
This page last modified on 24 January 2006.