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Numeral System


A numeral system is a scheme for representing numbers by strings of symbols called digits. In a positional system of integer base b>=2, the numeral a_ka_(k-1)...a_0 represents

 sum_(j=0)^ka_jb^j,

where 0<=a_j<b. The familiar decimal system has b=10, while binary has b=2. Nonpositional systems, such as Roman numerals, assign values by other rules.


See also

Base, Binary, Decimal, Digit, Numeral, Roman Numerals

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References

Knuth, D. E. The Art of Computer Programming, Vol. 2: Seminumerical Algorithms, 3rd ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Numeral System." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/NumeralSystem.html

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