We count in base 10 because we have ten fingers! When you learn to count, your hands are right there, five on one hand and five on the other. So it makes sense that we use ten digits (from 0 to 9) to count everything. If we had six fingers instead of ten, we might be using base 6, like counting with our toes too! It's all about what's easiest for us to use every day.
Examples
- Adding numbers like 24 + 17 is easier with base 10 because we group things in tens.
- You wouldn’t write '10' as just two digits, you’d know it means ten.
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See also
- How Does a Clock Work?
- What Makes Some People Better at Math Than Others?
- Why Is the Shape of a Pizza So Perfect?
- Who is Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic?
- What Makes a Coin Flip Fair?
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Categories: Math · Base Systems,Number Theory,History of Math