Those symbols that we now use to denote a number were invented by smart and resourceful people of India more than 15 centuries ago. Our ancestors learned about them from the Arabs, who began to use them earlier than others.
What is the difference between a digit and a number? The number comes from Arabic and has the direct meaning of "zero" or "empty space". In total, there are 10 digits, which, in turn, combined in different ways, make up numbers.
Difference between number and number
In order to understand the difference between the concepts of "number" and "figure", you need to remember the following postulates:
- There are only ten numbers: zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. All other combinations are numbers.
- A digit is a component of a number. How many digits are in a number? There may be a different number.
- Each number is a sign, a symbol. Any number is a quantitative abstraction.
Arabic Sifra
The number as a word has Arabic roots.
Initially, in Arabic it was the word "sifra",i.e. "zero". Numbers are symbols that represent numbers. Numbers are designated as follows:
- 0 - zero;
- 1 - one;
- 2 - two;
- 3 - three;
- 4 - four;
- 5 - five;
- 6 - six;
- 7 - seven;
- 8 - eight;
- 9 - nine.
The above numbers are called Arabic.
Roman numeral system
The Arabic number system is not alone in the world. There are other systems as well. Each one is completely different.
For example, in addition to the Arabic system, the Roman counting system is very popular. But Roman numerals are written differently and do not resemble Arabic in any way.
- I - one;
- II- two;
- III - three;
- IV - four;
- V- five;
- VI- six;
- VII - seven;
- VIII - eight;
- IX - nine;
- X - ten.
As you may have noticed, there is no zero symbol here. So a ten can be accepted as a number.
Number systems
A number system is a kind of representation of numbers.
For example, imagine there are several apples in front of you. Would you like to know how many apples are on the table? To do this, you could count by bending your fingers or making notches in a tree. Or could you imagine that ten apples are one basket, and one apple is one match. Matches in the course of the count lay out on the table under one.
In the first version of the calculation, the numberit turned out in the form of a line of notches on a tree (or bent fingers), and in the second version of the count, it was a set of baskets and matches. There should be containers on the left, and matches on the right.
There are two types of number systems:
- Positional.
- Non-positional.
Positional number systems are:
- Homogeneous.
- Mixed.
Non-positional is a number system in which a digit in a number corresponds to a value that does not depend on its digit. Therefore, if you have five notches, then the number will be five. For each notch will correspond to one apple.
The positional number system is the one in which the digit in the number will depend on its digit.
The number system we are used to is the decimal counting system. It is positional.
When our ancestors began to learn to count, they had the idea of writing down numbers. Initially, they used the same notches on trees or stones, where each line denoted an object (one apple, for example). This is how the unit number system was invented.
Unit number system
The difference between a digit and a number in the unit number system is that the number in this case is equivalent to a string consisting of sticks. The number of sticks (notches on the tree) is equal to the value of the number.
For example, a crop of 50 apples will be equal to a number consisting of 50 sticks (dashes, notches).
How many digits does the number 50 contain? Two digits. Number 0 and number 5. Butthe number of apples is much more than two.
The main inconvenience in this number system is a too long line of dashes. What if the harvest was 5,000 apples? Indeed, it is inconvenient to write down such a number. Reading will also be difficult.
Therefore, later our ancestors learned to group dashes into several pieces (5, 10 each). And for each uniting group, a special sign was invented. At first, fingers were used for 5 and 10. And then certain symbols were invented. In this way, counting apples has become much easier.
Ancient Egyptian decimal number system
The ancient Egyptians began to use special symbols to denote numbers. Even ancient people understood the difference between a number and a number.
Numbers:
1, 10, 102, 103, 104, 10 5, 106, 107.
So, the ancestors learned to group various signs (symbols). The Egyptians chose the number ten for their grouping, without changing the number one.
In this particular example, the number ten is the base of the decimal number system. And every sign in this number system is the number 10 to some degree.
The Egyptians wrote down numbers by combining these signs (symbols). If the number was not a power of ten, all the missing characters were added by repetition. Each character could be repeated no more than nine times. The result was equal to the sum of the elements of the number.
Binary number system
This number system is currently used in computingtechnique. The decimal system is inconvenient for the machines that serve people today.
The binary number system uses only two digits:
- Zero – 0.
- One - 1.
Only one digit is allowed in each digit - either 0 or 1. To convert a number from binary to decimal, you will need to multiply all the digits in turn by base 2, which is raised to a power equal to the digit.
Octal number system
The octal number system is also often used in modern electronics. As you understand, only eight digits are used here.
- 0 - zero;
- 1 – one;
- 2 - two;
- 3 – three;
- 4 – four;
- 5 – five;
- 6 – six;
- 7 – seven.
To convert a number to the decimal number system, you need to multiply each digit of the given number by 8 (to the degree of the digit of the number).
Hexadecimal digits
Programmers and people whose profession is closely related to computer machines use the hexadecimal number system.
- 0 – 0;
- 1 – 1;
- 2 – 2;
- 3 – 3;
- 4 – 4;
- 5 – 5;
- 6 – 6;
- 7 – 7;
- 8 – 8;
- 9 – 9;
- A-10;
- B-11;
- C–12;
- D–13;
- E–14;
- F – 15.
Number and number
Number is a concept that denotesquantity.
A number is a symbol or character that represents a number.
The number of digits in a number can be different, from one to infinity.
For example, given the number "seven", which reflects the amount of something. But we write this very number as 7.
The definition of a number and a number in a simple language is given below.
Numbers are needed in order to keep track of any objects, measure length, measure time, speed and other quantities. And a number is a symbol that shows the number visually, clearly and clearly.
Roughly speaking, a number can be compared with a letter from the alphabet, and a word with a number. That is, there are only 33 signs (symbols) in Russian to denote letters. With their help, you can write as many words as you like. And there are only ten digits to represent numbers.
Let's see clearly how a number differs from a number.
In order to write the number 587, we will use three digits: 5, 8 and 7. The numbers themselves cannot represent a whole number. With the same numbers, we can write many more different numbers. For example 857, 875 878755 and so on.
When is it correct to use "number" and when - "number"?
If a person says: "Please write down the number 7. Now add 8 to it." This option will be considered competent and correct.
If they tell you: “Write down the number 9. And subtract 3”, this is wrong and illiterate. Nothing can be taken away from a number. In the same way as from a letter, for example. It's just a symbol, likecan you subtract some of it? It will be correct: “Write down the number 9…”.
The option "Write down the number 23" is also incorrect. Such a number simply does not exist. There is a number 23, which can be written as numbers 2 and 3.
What's the difference ?
So, we can't imagine our life without an account. This is undeniable. In our world, it is no longer possible to live without figures and numbers. But we rarely think about what we are dealing with now - with a figure or still with a number.
As we found out earlier, a number is just a certain symbol, a sign that is usually used to denote something.
The number shows the amount of something with the help of these very signs - numbers.
A digit can be not only an integral part of a number, but also a number, more precisely, its analogue. Of course, provided that it denotes the number of items up to 9 inclusive.
Main findings
So, what is the difference between a number and a number:
- Numbers are a kind of counting unit from zero to nine inclusive. All other combinations of numbers are numbers.
- How many digits in a number denoting the same amount depends on the number system.
- Each number is made up of digits.
- The main difference between a number and a number is that the first concept is abstract, it is just a symbol, and the second expresses the amount of something.
- The number and digit differ depending on the number system. The same digit can represent a different number.
