Every base is base

Bases

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I did not get it at first - smart :slight_smile:

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I can't remember the details exactly but New Scientist once asked for something like 'show Pi in the least number of characters, while keeping it accurate'. I wrote in with 'if you set your number base to Pi then Pi itself becomes exactly 10'.

End of discussion.

(Although I accept that number bases don't have to be integers I've never understood how fractional number bases work in practice)

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there is a mathematical theory for this - see non-integer radix systems

All your base are belong to us.

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Thank you, but I can't read that! Unfortunately Wikipedia technical articles are written by experts for experts. I don't have the maths knowledge to make sense of it, and the description doesn't help enough. No worries, I'm not desperate to know.

I guess it's not a major miss :slight_smile:

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Yes its all about the bass.

Tom.. :smiley: :+1: :coffee: :australia:

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mmm zig.

Problem is that in a conversation, "ten" is a different value than "one zero"
"ten" is a particular value, "one zero" depends on base.
If you ever actually work with multiple bases on a regular basis, you get used to NOT saying things like "twelve hex" (0x12) or "one thousand binary" (0b1000)

In the cartoon, the alien would have no more trouble with the concept of "four" than normal people have with the concept of "ten"
(cute, though.)

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(advance to 00m45s)

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The genius of the "Hershey bar" --
image

... concept of "10"

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