![symbols for numbers in different languages symbols for numbers in different languages](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L2p_kyDWA8c/S4LlGWjN5rI/AAAAAAAAAA4/r3MUv0ydKw4/s320/babylonian.jpg)
This is an example of digital representation. If more money is added to the account ( +$40.12), different symbols must be used to represent the new balance ($35,995.50), or at least the same symbols arranged in different patterns. Unlike the “thermometer” poster with its red column, those symbolic characters above cannot be finely divided: that particular combination of ciphers stand for one quantity and one quantity only. On the other hand, a digital representation of that same monetary figure, written with standard symbols (sometimes called ciphers), looks like this: $35,955.38 The slide rule is a mechanical device that uses the very same physical quantity - length - to represent numbers, and to help perform arithmetical operations with two or more numbers at a time. Length is a physical quantity that can be divided as small as you would like, with no practical limit. Changing the height of that column is something that can be done without changing the essential nature of what it is. There is no real limit to how finely divided the height of that column can be made to symbolize the amount of money in the account. This is an example of an analog representation of a number. Have you ever seen a fund-raising poster made with a picture of a thermometer on it, where the height of the red column indicated the amount of money collected for the cause? The more money collected, the taller the column of red ink on the poster. You\’re probably already familiar with an analog representation of money, and didn\’t realize it for what it was.
![symbols for numbers in different languages symbols for numbers in different languages](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8f/fa/1b/8ffa1ba88499f5cb9f630cf5b2a520d8--chinese-new-year-activities-chinese-calendar.jpg)
With digital representation, the quantity is symbolized in a way that is discretely packaged. With analog representation, the quantity is symbolized in a way that is infinitely divisible. There are two basic ways we can do this: analog and digital. In other words, we may know how much money we have in our checking account, but to keep record of it we need to have some system worked out to symbolize that quantity on paper, or in some other kind of form for record-keeping and tracking. If we are to use numbers to understand processes in the physical world, make scientific predictions, or balance our checkbooks, we must have a way of symbolically denoting them. The non-integer quantities of voltage, current, and resistance that we\’re used to dealing with in DC circuits can be expressed as real numbers, in either fractional or decimal form.įor AC circuit analysis, however, real numbers fail to capture the dual essence of magnitude and phase angle, and so we turn to the use of complex numbers in either rectangular or polar form.
![symbols for numbers in different languages symbols for numbers in different languages](http://worldcoincatalog.com/Contents/Glossary/Numbers.jpg)
Irrational numbers are numbers that cannot be exactly expressed as the ratio of two integers, and the ratio of a perfect circle\’s circumference to its diameter (π) is a good physical example of this.
![symbols for numbers in different languages symbols for numbers in different languages](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cf/ad/a1/cfada13ba4cf5447def9ac159e2cc08d.png)
Integers are needed when negative equivalents of whole numbers are required. Whole numbers work well for counting discrete objects, such as the number of resistors in a circuit. Including zero, whole, integer, and irrational numbers)ĭifferent types of numbers find different application in the physical world. (All one-dimensional numerical values, negative and positive, Here are just a few types, for example: WHOLE NUMBERS: There are many different types of numbers. A number is a mathematical quantity, usually correlated in electronics to a physical quantity such as voltage, current, or resistance. Numbersįirst, we have to distinguish the difference between numbers and the symbols we use to represent numbers. On the other hand, the particular system of notation we\’ve been taught from grade school onward is not the system used internally in modern electronic computing devices, and learning any different system of notation requires some re-examination of deeply ingrained assumptions. It is good, in that we\’re accustomed to the use and manipulation of numbers for the many calculations used in analyzing electronic circuits. This is both a good and a bad thing in the study of electronics. The expression of numerical quantities is something we tend to take for granted.