Decimal numbers are used in the decimal number system. This system is a form of numbering based on the number ten. This infers that any number imaginable can be represented utilizing unique combinations of ten distinct symbols, (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7" 9), also known as digits. This counting mechanism, primarily of Indian/Arabic origin has been in use for more than 5000 years and may have been influenced by the fact that human beings have ten fingers which can be conveniently used for counting (Poseidon Software and Invention, 1998). .
The binary system, on the other hand (no pun intended), has only two discrete digits, 0 and 1. Amazingly, all known numbers can be represented with this scheme too. The trade-off is that numerical values greater than 0 or 1 soon become terribly verbose. For example, compare 10100 in binary to 20 in decimal, each representing the number twenty. Computers, however, operate rather efficiently using this model. Electrical currents can either be on or off which in turn can map to 0 and 1, respectively. Boolean algebra can be used to create logic circuit gates that can be chained together to simulate adding machines for example. These adders in turn can be linked to form very creative and extremely powerful computing circuits. .
One has to wonder about the potential of using higher numbering formats like base-3 (ternary) or base-4 (quaternary). Each bit would be capable of representing more detail. Instead of on or off, there could be various voltage levels, scientifically referred to as multi-valued logic (Cole 2003). This would increase the power of each circuit almost exponentially. In the case of computer memory, more bits of information can be contained within the same size chip. Take for instance a 32-bit computer. The maximum amount of accessible memory could be represented as 232 = 4 gigabytes worth of RAM addresses. This chip in ternary would be 332= 1.6 terabytes worth!.
