The ordinary decimal system uses ten distinct single-symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. But many other ways of writing numbers are available. Here are a few. All these cases show how the quantity sixteen would be written.

Sixteen_base = How Sixteen is Written_{In case we have this many distinct symbols}

10₁₆

11₁₅

12₁₄

13₁₃

14₁₂

15₁₁

16₁₀

17₉

20₈

22₇

24₆

31₅

100₄

121₃

10000₂

When the number of distinct symbols is just two (2), they are usually written 0 and 1. This is the binary means of tracking quantity.

---

10/30/03 Version						http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~klinger/repre.html
			©2003 Allen Klinger