• JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      38
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      7 months ago

      Jesus Christ.

      I just realized that we call binary base2 and there’s no 2 in that numbering system. We call hexadecimal base16 but there’s no 16 (at least not like we know it). But then why is base10 base10? We have a 10…but it’s not a single digit number.

      Why is this reminding me of Project Hail Mary?

      • psud@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        21
        ·
        7 months ago

        Every base has ten, but it’s made of two digits

        Binary 0, 1, 10 Ternary 0, 1, 2, 10 … Decimal 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Hex 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10

        Each has the right count of digits for its base before you go two-digit - binary has two (0, 1), etc

        • Randelung@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          7 months ago

          more precisely, every base has 10, but it’s usually not equal to ten. ten is a fixed value, while 10 depends on the base. you still count normally (one two three four five), even in a base two system. you just write it differently.

          • psud@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            6 months ago

            If you are working in a different number system with other people ten loses its unique meaning just like any word that has another technical meaning.

            In code 0x10 is hex 10 (what you’d call sixteen), but in spoken technical English you don’t need to pronounce the 0x

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          The same is true for all bases. What we call base-4 in base-10 is 0123. In base-16 it’s 0123456789abcdef, where f is what we would call 15

      • FiskFisk33@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 months ago

        because then every base would be ‘base 10’

        That or the decriarchy has been normalizing the decimal counting system as the default one for far too long!

      • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 months ago

        If there’s no agreed symbol for digit 37, you can call it Base 37A (or express it in another base of your choosing).

        In case the formatting doesn’t work, that A is supposed to be subscript