Base Ten Number System
A thorough understanding of decimals, and a thorough understanding of our Western money culture, begins with understanding
that our number system is a base ten number system. For every "digit" in a number, there is a place value for that number. Let the following "number" be our example: 123,456,789. Every three numbers are separated by a comma. Each of the numbers represents that number times factors of a base 10 except "9". Nine represents 9 ones so that is called the units place value and could be written as 9 x 10^0. The number ten raised to the zero power means there are no factors of that base ten. The base equals 1. The raised number is the exponent and represents how many tens you are multiplying together (every zero represents a factor of ten).
A thorough understanding of decimals, and a thorough understanding of our Western money culture, begins with understanding
that our number system is a base ten number system. For every "digit" in a number, there is a place value for that number. Let the following "number" be our example: 123,456,789. Every three numbers are separated by a comma. Each of the numbers represents that number times factors of a base 10 except "9". Nine represents 9 ones so that is called the units place value and could be written as 9 x 10^0. The number ten raised to the zero power means there are no factors of that base ten. The base equals 1. The raised number is the exponent and represents how many tens you are multiplying together (every zero represents a factor of ten).
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