Decimal is a term that describes the base-10 number system, probably the most commonly used number system. The decimal number system consists of ten single- digit numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The number after 9 is 10. The number after 19 is 20 and so forth. Additional powers of 10 require the addition of another positional digit.
In computing, the binary , octal , or hexadecimal number system may be used instead of the decimal system. All these schemes have a number of digits that is a power of 2. This is an advantage in systems that use high and low digital states.
| Decimal | Binary | Octal | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 11 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 100 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 101 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 110 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 111 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 1000 | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | 1001 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | 1010 | 12 | A |
| 11 | 1011 | 13 | B |
| 12 | 1100 | 14 | C |
| 13 | 1101 | 15 | D |
| 14 | 1110 | 16 | E |
| 15 | 1111 | 17 | F |
| 16 | 10000 | 20 | 10 |
| 17 | 10001 | 21 | 11 |
| etc | etc | etc | etc |