BA35
BA35
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July 7th, 2012 at 10:46:13 PM permalink
I'm curious...when discussing a fractional number which isn't written in base 10, is it still appropriate to say 'decimal' point?

For example, for the following number expressed in binary, what's the appropriate way to refer to the dot?

111.1101
I should have stopped an hour ago...
MonkeyMonkey
MonkeyMonkey
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July 8th, 2012 at 3:16:36 AM permalink
Quote: BA35

I'm curious...when discussing a fractional number which isn't written in base 10, is it still appropriate to say 'decimal' point?

For example, for the following number expressed in binary, what's the appropriate way to refer to the dot?

111.1101



It's a binary point.

The generic term for this type of separator is a radix point. Radix is from Latin, meaning root, but when applied to math you can think of it as meaning 'base'. So when the radix point is used for base 10 numbers it's a decimal point (the prefix deci implying base 10).
odiousgambit
odiousgambit
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July 8th, 2012 at 5:29:34 AM permalink
there's only 10 kinds of people, those who understand this binary BS and those who don't
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!”   She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
24Bingo
24Bingo
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July 8th, 2012 at 6:28:06 AM permalink
The word you're looking for is "radix point." I guess "binary point" might be appropriate, but I've never heard it used. Usually, the only time I hear of non-integers represented in binary (or any non-decimal base, really, other than historically in explicit fractions) is in IEEE 754 notation, in which case I usually just hear talk of the "mantissa," not the point per se, since the point is a human convenience and such numbers aren't really meant for human eyes.
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MangoJ
MangoJ
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July 25th, 2012 at 2:24:24 PM permalink
Quote: odiousgambit

there's only 10 kinds of people, those who understand this binary BS and those who don't



I have a better one: All bases are written "10".
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