A computer program uses 3 bits to represent integers. When the program adds the decimal (base 10) numbers 5 and 3, the result is 0. Which of the following is the best explanation for the result?

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We need to represent $5+3=8$. If we only have 3 bits, the highest decimal number we would be able to represent is:

$$2^2+2^1+2^0=4+2+1=7$$

To represent 8, we would need 4 bits (1000):

$$1\cdot2^3+0\cdot2^2+0\cdot2^1+0\cdot2^0=8+0+0+0=8$$

This is known as an overflow error.