1-24
Table 1-3. —Binary and Octal Comparison
Unit and Number
The terms that you learned in the decimal and binary sections are also used with the octal system.
The unit remains a single object, and the number is still a symbol used to represent one or more
units.
Base (Radix)
As with the other systems, the radix, or base, is the number of symbols used in the system. The octal
system uses eight symbols 0 through 7. The base, or radix, is indicated by the subscript 8.
Positional Notation
The octal number system is a positional notation number system. Just as the decimal system uses
powers of 10 and the binary system uses powers of 2, the octal system uses power of 8 to determine the
value of a number’s position. The following bar graph shows the positions and the power of the base:
83 82 81 80
-1
8-2 8-3
