Long Physics question, but I need some help please!!?

[Dan L]

Describe, in essay format, one method for the digital recording of sound. Address
the following issues (at least): Given an actual pressure wave in a gas, how do you
translate the wave into a signal that can be digitized. What does it mean to digitize a
signal? Why would you want to digitize a signal? Describe how the details of the
digitization process impact the quality of the digital representation of the sound
compared to the pressure wave that was recorded (i.e. sampling rate and comparisons
between 8bit and 16bit encoding). Why is this encoding scheme translated to binary
numbers, i.e., 1001010111?