Decimal

Decimal

A decimal system uses ten as its base for counting and writing numbers. This is the way most people in the world write numbers today. It is also called the base-ten system.

We use ten special symbols called digits to write numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. When we want to write numbers that have parts smaller than one, we use a special sign called a decimal separator. This is usually a dot (.) or a comma (,). For example, in "25.9703", the part after the dot tells us how much there is beyond the whole number 25.

People have used the number ten for counting for a very long time. Many think this is because humans have ten fingers, which they used for counting. Old cultures like the Egyptian numerals, Brahmi numerals, Greek numerals, Hebrew numerals, Roman numerals, and Chinese numerals all used a system based on ten.

The way we write numbers today is called the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. This system makes it easier to work with both whole numbers and numbers with parts after a decimal point. This created what we now call the decimal numeral system.

Decimal numbers are very useful in science, engineering, and everyday life. They help us show measurements very accurately. For example, if something is measured as 1.32 milligrams, it means the actual amount is very close to this number.