|  | 1.3 | Binary Numbers
| 1.3.3 | The Base 10 (decimal) number system

A number system consists of symbols, and rules for using those symbols; many number systems exist. The number system most frequently used, and the one with which you are probably most familiar, is the decimal, or Base 10, number system. It is called Base 10 because it uses ten symbols, and combinations of them, to represent all possible numbers. The digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9, make up the Base 10 system.

A decimal number system is based on powers of 10. Each symbol, or digit, represents the number 10 (base number) raised to a power (exponent), according to its position, and is multiplied by the number that holds that position. When you read a decimal number from right to left, the first position represents 100 (1), the second position represents 101 (10 x 1= 10), the third position represents 102 (10 x 10 x 1=100), 106 (10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 1=1,000,000)

Example:

2134 = (2x103) + (1x102) + (3x101) + (4x100)

There is a 2 in the thousands position, a 1 in the hundreds position, a 3 in the tens position, and a 4 in the ones position.

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