Few Common Aspects to All Numbering Systems

(i) Base or Radix

The number of symbols used for the representation of numbers in a number system
is known as its Base or Radix and is generally denoted by r.

(ii) Digit
Each symbol in the number system is called a Digit.

(iii) The largest value of a digit is always one less than the base
For ex, in decimal system, the largest digit is 9 (since base is 10)

(iv) Each digit position (i.e. place) represents a different multiple of base
This means that the numbers have positional importance. Hence the number
systems are known as Positional Weighted Number System. It means that the
value attached to a symbol depends on its location with respect to the decimal point.

 For example decimal number 123.4 (base 10) can actually be represented as;

(123.4)10 = 1x102 + 2x101 + 3x100 + 4x10-1

 In general, a number of any radix can be expressed as,

Nr = … + D3 x r3 + D2 x r2 + D1 x r1 + D0 x r0 + D-1 x r -1 + D-2 x r -2 + D-3 x r -3 +...

Where;
r is the base and Di is any valid digit in the number system of base r.

 The digits on the left side of the decimal point form the integer part of a number and
those on the right side form the fractional part.
 The left most digit in any number representation, which has the greatest positional
weight out of all the digits present in that number is called the most significant digit
(MSD).
 The right most digit in any number representation, which has the least positional
weight out of all the digits present in that number is called the least significant digit
(LSD).

 Various Numbering Systems

 Different number systems are used in various applications. The commonly used
number systems along with their base, 1 st digit, last digit and available digits are shown
as below:
 Table 1.2: Illustration of various number system

Sr. Number Base First Last All digits

No System digit digit
1 Binary 2 0 1 0,1
2 Octal 8 0 7 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7
3 Decimal 10 0 9 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
4 Hexadecimal 16 0 F 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F
Note: In hexadecimal number system, meaning of A≈10, B≈11, C≈12, D≈13, E≈14 & F≈15.

1. DECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM

 Decimal number system is the most familiar no. system used in day-to-day life. The
decimal system consists of 10 unique symbols. Hence the base or radix is 10. It is a
positional weighted system. In this system, any number (integer, fraction or mixed) of
any magnitude can be represented by the use of these ten symbols only.

 The digits on the left side of the decimal point form the integer part of a decimal
number while those on right side from the fractional part. The digits on the right of the
decimal point have weights which are negative powers of 10 and the digits to the left of
the decimal point have weights which are positive powers of 10. The sum of all the
digits multiplied by their weights gives the total number being represented.

 In general, the value of any mixed decimal number

dn dn-1 dn-2 . . . d1 d0 . d-1 d-2 d-3 . . . d-k

is given by

(dn x 10n) + (dn-1 x 10n-1) + . . . + (d1 x 101) + (d0 x 100) + (d-1 x 10-1) + . . + (d-k x 10-k)

 Consider a decimal no. 9256.26. We represent it as:

9256.26 = 9 x 1000 + 2 x 100 + 5 x 10 + 6 x 1 + 2 x (1/10) + 6 x (1/100)

= 9 x 103 + 2 x 102 + 5 x 101 + 6 x 100 + 2 x 10-1 + 6 x 10-2

MSD .... 103 102 101 100 10-1 10-2 10-3 . . . . LSD

RADIX POINT

Fig. 1.6: Decimal position values as power of 10

2. BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM

 The binary number system is a positional weighted system. The base or radix of this
number system is 2. Hence, it has two independent symbols. The base itself cannot be a
symbol. The symbols used are 0 & 1. A binary digit is called a bit. A binary number
consists of a sequence of bits, each of which is either a 0 or a 1. The binary point
separates the integer and fraction part. The weight of each bit position is one power of 2
greater than the weight of the position to its immediate right. The place values left on
the binary point in binary are 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1.

 In general, the value of any mixed binary number

bn bn-1 bn-2 . . . b1 b0 . b-1 b-2 b-3 . . . b-k

is given by
(bn x 2n) + (bn-1 x 2n-1) + . . . + (b1 x 21) + (b0 x 20) + (b-1 x 2-1) + . . + (b-k x 2-k)

MSB .... 23 22 21 20 2-1 2-2 2-3 . . . . LSB

RADIX POINT
Fig. 1.7: Binary position values as power of 2

 Counting in Binary

 Counting in binary is very similar to decimal counting. Start counting with 0, the next
count is 1. Moving ahead, we put 1 in the column to the left and continue the counting.
Thus, 11 is the maximum we can count using two bits. Similarly, we can continue
counting with 5, 6, ... bits.

Table 1.3: Counting in Binary

Decimal Binary Decimal Binary

Number Number Number Number
0 00000 11 01011
1 00001 12 01100
2 00010 13 01101
3 00011 14 01110
4 00100 15 01111
5 00101 16 10000
6 00110 17 10001
7 00111 18 10010
8 01000 19 10011
9 01001 20 10100
10 01010 21 10101
 Applications
 The binary number system is used in digital computers because the switching circuits
used in these computers use two-state devices such as transistors, diodes, etc. These
devices have to exist in one of the two possible states: ON of OFF, OPEN or CLOSED. So,
these two states can be represented by the symbols 0 and 1, respectively.

3. OCTAL NUMBER SYSTEM

 The octal number system was extensively used by early minicomputers. It is also a
positional weighted system. Its base or radix is 8. It has 8 independent symbols 0 to 7.
 Since its base 8 = 23, every 3-bit group of binary can be represented by an octal digit. An
octal number is, thus 1/3 rd. the length of the corresponding binary number.

MSD .... 83 82 81 80 8-1 8-2 8-3 . . . . LSD

RADIX POINT

Fig. 1.8: Octal position values as power of 8

Table 1.4: Counting in Octal

Decimal Octal Decimal Octal

Number Number Number Number
0 0 11 13
1 1 12 14
2 2 13 15
3 3 14 16
4 4 15 17
5 5 16 20
6 6 17 21
7 7 18 22
8 10 19 23
9 11 20 24
10 12 21 25

 Usefulness of the Octal System

 In computer work, binary numbers up to 64 bits are not uncommon. These binary
numbers do not always represent a numerical quantity; they often represent some type
of code. While dealing with large binary numbers, it is convenient and more efficient for
us to write the numbers in octal rather than binary. The ease with which conversions
can be made between octal and binary makes the octal system more attractive as a
shorthand means of expressing large binary numbers.