Mathematical Bases
Entry posted by SparkyDino: Toa of Swordsmanship
382 views
Now if you saw this: LINK, you might've wondered what Bases are. Well, let me explain.
Since the beginning of the maths that we know, humans have used Base 10 as a counting system. This may sound complicated, but it is pretty basic. Here's how it works:
Every 10 units, you go on to the next set of units. If you count up to ten, what happens after you get to ten? You add a 1 to the start of the number and start counting again. So that's base ten.
So why do we use this? Why not base eleven? Why not base six-hundered-and-twenty-six-point-three? Because (here's where it gets simple) We have ten fingers. And ten toes. Convenient, eh?
Anyway, for the develepors of maths, it meant that they could count to ten, and then use there toes to keep track of how many tens they had.
Now, Base Thirteen.
It's just like that, but... You count to thirteen before you add a unit. A good example of this is the pounds/stones weight. 14 Pounds until you gain a stone. Not 10 pounds. 14 pounds.
So what does this mean for the famous 42 theory. Now if you multiply 6 by 9 in base thirteen, an easy way to do it, is to do 6 by 9 in base 10, and then subtract 3 (base 10/base 13) for every 10 you have in there. So if 6 x 9 is 54, that means that you take away 15... which is?
41. Oh.
4 Comments
Recommended Comments