2.2 Positional Notation
How many ones are there in 943? That is, how many actual things does the number 943 represent? Well, in grade school terms, you might say there are 9 hundreds plus 4 tens plus 3 ones. Or, said another way, there are 900 ones plus 40 ones plus 3 ones. So how many ones are there in 754? 700 ones plus 50 ones plus 4 ones. Right? Well, maybe. The answer depends on the base of the number system you are using. This answer is correct in the base-10, or decimal, number system, which is the number system humans use every day. But that answer is not correct in other number systems.
The base of a number system specifies the number of digits used in the system. The digits always begin with 0 and continue through one less than the ...
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