Base 10 Math> Base 8 Math

[thor777_au]

Hi everyone,

1. Does Base 8 math exist?

2. If so, Would 'Base 8 math' be more 'advanced' then Base 10?

Cheers.

[kawai]

it's just a differnet way counting

base 10 system advances after 10 counts

base 8 just advancese itself after 8

for example, binary system is a base two system since, you only get 0,1

[thor777_au]

But to me base 8 math makes no sense. Why would you stop at 8, when there is 9,0?

o.k let me re-phrase my question

If an advanced alien culture used base 8 math, then how would that be different then using base 10? Like, why would they? Hypothetical question of course...

cheers, thoughts.

[bdpmax]

A base 8 system could be used by aliens all having 8 fingers. We humans simply counted in base 10 because we happen to have 10 fingers. No one is more advanced, it's simply a game of fingers ;)

[sfd]

Base 8 is merely another way of simplifying the reading of base 2, like base 16 does. As you probably know, bits are represented in base 2, which is a bit cumbersome for a human to read. This, is where base 16 aka. hexadecimal comes in. It's just easier to read 2A than 00100000. Base 8 can be pretty much used from the same thing.

http://www.efunda.com/units/base_n.cfm <-- here is a rather good base(n) calculator.

Of course, computers are not the only thing where bases are or can be used.

And, it doesn't really matter, which base you use. It's just the fact, that by some historical glitch we've all gotten used to decimal system.

Edited July 23, 2004 by sfd

[kawai]

But to me base 8 math makes no sense. Why would you stop at 8, when there is 9,0?

o.k let me re-phrase my question

If an advanced alien culture used base 8 math, then how would that be different then using base 10? Like, why would they? Hypothetical question of course...

cheers, thoughts.

you can always convert form one system to another, that's why math is the universal language.

it's easy for us to use base 10 system (probably because of the fingers) like bdpmax said

i think a lot of culture didn't use the base 10 system before (and probably still now), i think imperial system is not base 10 because it goes up every 12 or something right (been using metric system since birth sorry)

[HPMCommander]

A base 8 system could be used by aliens all having 8 fingers. We humans simply counted in base 10 because we happen to have 10 fingers. No one is more advanced, it's simply a game of fingers ;)

That's exactly why we have base 10. If we all had 9 fingers (for whatever reason), I guarantee you we would be counting in base 9.

Base 8:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 100, 101, 102, 103 and so on.

Man that took forever to type :wacko:

[thor777_au]

Good point about the fingers. Never heard that idea...but damn it makes alot of sense.

So there really isnt a 'reason' its just logics.

Spock would be turning in his grave.

[HPMCommander]

I thought Spock was cremated :p

[thor777_au]

I thought Spock was cremated

O.k...Hole in the wall then.

(in Australia some cremated people wish to keep their 'remains' in a wall in the cemetary, so that family members can come and see it)

[neowin_hipster]

Base 2 = binary

Base 8 = octal

Base 16 = hex

Base 10 = decimal.

So, you must be talking about the ancients because i see you're a stargate fan.

I've used base 8 before, but you'll mostly only see it being used on really old computer systems where they conserved bits. 3-bits can describe a single octal digit. 4-bits can describe a hex digit.

[xSammyx]

if we use base 10 because we have 10 fingers, then how come ancient persians and babylonians used base 6 numerical system?

after all degrees are on a base 6 system because of time.

[glitch409]

maby this site can help one of you: http://www.webelfin.com/webelfindesign/counthex.html

:whistle:

[futb0l]

Binary is base 2

Octal - base 8

Hexadeciman - base 16

just different systems...

we use them because it might be more efficient, say for the microchip to calculate.

[Deryck]

i think a lot of culture didn't use the base 10 system before (and probably still now), i think imperial system is not base 10 because it goes up every 12 or something right (been using metric system since birth sorry)

The imperial system is based on "real" features (such as the number of average sized yards that fit in a mile etc.) but you have many imperial measurements! So I'm not quite sure if they are based on different bases.

[mrvc]

A base 8 system could be used by aliens all having 8 fingers. We humans simply counted in base 10 because we happen to have 10 fingers. No one is more advanced, it's simply a game of fingers ;)

Can be used by people in The Simpsons as well.

10 Fingers = 8 Fingers in Simpsons