Just the Basics (was Re: MATH Puzzle ?)

Hara Ra (harara@shamanics.com)
Mon, 04 May 1998 23:56:06 -0700


> B10 = 0123456789
> B5 = 01234
> B2 = 01
> B1 = 0

>Is it that 0 (as just a placeholder) = 1? After all,
>when we say "Base 2" and the two numbers of B2 are
>0 and 1, we are assigning the value of 1 to the
>0 and 2 to the 1... right? Is this paradoxical?
>I think it's that 0 = 1 number = 1 tally mark.

Yup. Base 0 is just a set of tally marks. At last you
got it right....

Of course there are other notations which act like fractional
bases, say Base 1 1/2.... And notations where the positional
valueations are not even powers of the lesser positions. For
example, use the primes:

(7)(5)(3)(2)

so the value 9 is expressed as 0101....

Have fun :)


O--------------------------------O
| Hara Ra <harara@shamanics.com> |
| Box 8334 Santa Cruz, CA 95061 |
O--------------------------------O