user4527: how does an 8bit MCU handle 16bit output?
How does an 8bit MCU store values higher than 8bits?
I am using an attiny, on an adafruit trinket. and other 8bit MCUs.
http://www.atmel.com/devices/attiny85.aspx
I was doing some things with uint32_t datatypes, when it hit me, that it would seem like uint32_t would be an incompatible datatype. Even 2Byte data type like int seems peculiar. "int stores a 16-bit (2-byte) value"
considering the MCU is 8bit. 
I saw this link, that sounded like it would have more info, but its pages are incomplete. http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/DatatypePractices
So how does that work?
How does an 8bit MCU make use of data-types over 8bits?

user13432: Actually a 1-bit MCU could be used to execute code (e.g. C/C++) with N-bit numbers. Not very fast as it will require O(N) operations for addition and subtraction. 
To better understand this for the 8-bit AVR MCU used in Arduino I recommend reading the Instruction Set Description Manual, AVR/GCC Wiki and assembler code listings for some sketches. This will reveal the secret(s) behind this "alien technology/magic". 
Cheers!

user27653: The basic answer is that the processor does math in 8-bit chunks, so it takes more instructions than it would on a 32-bit processor.
A good answer is found in EE.SE

4527: <p>how does an 8bit MCU handle 16bit output?
How does an 8bit MCU store values higher than 8bits?
I am using an attiny, on an adafruit trinket. and other 8bit MCUs.
<a href="http://www.atmel.com/devices/attiny85.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.atmel.com/devices/attiny85.aspx</a>
I was doing some things with uint32_t datatypes, when it hit me, that it would seem like uint32_t would be an incompatible datatype. Even 2Byte data type like int seems peculiar. "<a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Int" rel="nofollow noreferrer">int stores a 16-bit (2-byte) value</a>"
considering the MCU is 8bit. </p>

<p>I saw this link, that sounded like it would have more info, but its pages are incomplete. <a href="http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/DatatypePractices" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/DatatypePractices</a></p>

<p>So how does that work?
How does an 8bit MCU make use of data-types over 8bits?</p>
 13432: <p>Actually a 1-bit MCU could be used to execute code (e.g. C/C++) with N-bit numbers. Not very fast as it will require <em>O(N)</em> operations for addition and subtraction. </p>

<p>To better understand this for the 8-bit AVR MCU used in Arduino I recommend reading the <a href="http://www.atmel.com/images/Atmel-0856-AVR-Instruction-Set-Manual.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Instruction Set Description Manual</a>, <a href="https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/avr-gcc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AVR/GCC Wiki</a> and assembler code listings for some sketches. This will reveal the secret(s) behind this "alien technology/magic". </p>

<p>Cheers!</p>
 27653: <p>The basic answer is that the processor does math in 8-bit chunks, so it takes more instructions than it would on a 32-bit processor.</p>

<p>A good answer is found in <a href="https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/166218/how-can-a-8-bit-cpu-calculate-big-numbers">EE.SE</a></p>
