Poll of the Day > Number Systems

(+) Yeah! (+)

Have you ever used a number system other than base-ten or decimal?

The number system used by almost all human cultures is called base-ten or decimal. There are ten digits (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0) which each represent a power of ten such as 1, ten, a hundred, a thousand, a tenth, and etc. The best explanation for why this is so is because humans have ten fingers.

However, there are other ways of writing numbers. Binary or base-2 uses only two digits (0 and 1) to represent powers of 2 such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. This is often used in computers. Computers also have stuff encoded in base-sixteen, sixteen being a power of 2.

One notable system is base-twelve (or the dozenal system) that is being advocated due to twelve having many divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and twelve/dozen itself.)

hexadecimal because computers

roman numerals for the anime topic and elder scrolls games

agesboy posted...

hexadecimal because computers

roman numerals for the anime topic and elder scrolls games

Ah, good ol' Roman numerals....

Fun fact, p-adic numbers were used in Andre Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem

I've used binary and hex for computer stuff. But I'm not fully fluent in either off the top of my head so if I need to use them I'll usually use a conversion app.

And most of us use Base 12 in our daily lives without realizing it. Because it was the main system for the Babylonians, which led to multiple aspects of how we perceive the world culturally. It's why we have 24-hour days, 60 minutes in an hour (and 60 seconds in a minute), 12 months, 12 signs of the zodiac, 360 degrees in a circle, and so on.

joemodda posted...

Fun fact, p-adic numbers were used in Andre Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem

Cool!

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I've used binary and hex for computer stuff. But I'm not fully fluent in either off the top of my head so if I need to use them I'll usually use a conversion app.

And most of us use Base 12 in our daily lives without realizing it. Because it was the main system for the Babylonians, which led to multiple aspects of how we perceive the world culturally. It's why we have 24-hour days, 60 minutes in an hour (and 60 seconds in a minute), 12 months, 12 signs of the zodiac, 360 degrees in a circle, and so on.

Ah yeah, you're right regarding base-twelve!

if we had twelve fingers the world would be a LOT simpler

This is a good song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nC8J6YXqdo

I remember playing some Star Trek video game and one of the puzzles involved two alien space ships or facilities or something, and they both had different number systems and the code to open a door was written in one system and you had to convert to the other. I don't remember any specifics since it was like 30-something years ago.

I'm pretty sure it was Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, and I think it was Chapter 6: That Old Devil Moon.

agesboy posted...

if we had twelve fingers the world would be a LOT simpler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_12#Origin