A number system is just a way of writing or representing numbers using a set of symbols. Each system is based on how many symbols we are using to represent a number. The one we are most familiar with is the Decimal Number System.
Decimal Number system
The Decimal Number system (also called Base 10) uses ten symbols to represent numbers. These symbols (called digits) are:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
The position of symbols (digits) in a number is very important as it changes how much that digit represents. For example, 372.
Here 3 is in so-called hundreds place, 7 is in tens place and 2 is in ones place. This means that there are three hundreds, seven tens and two ones in that number.
300 + 70 + 2 = 372
The left-most digit is called the Most Significant Digit and the right-most digit is called the Least Significant Digit. In our example, 3 is the most significant digit and 2 is the least significant digit.
