− | {{Note|This article is about octal, which is a real thing. For more information, consult [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octal the other wiki].}}
| + | The people of Delgar use '''octal math'''. This is because of the way they count on their fingers, counting 1-4 on the fingers then raising thumb and counting again for 5-8, then using the other hand to count to a total of 16 on both hands (or 64 in the positional style, where the left hand is counted as 8x the shown value). |
| + | What's with that "10<sub>8</sub>" you ask? In writing, they write the number 7 with one symbol ("7") but they write the number 8 with two symbols ('10"). If you've ever studied numeric bases for some reason (probably computer science) you probably already understand this, but in case it's confusing, here's the basic idea:{{Note|The remainder of this article is about octal itself, which is a real thing. For more information, consult [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octal the other wiki].}} |
| In decimal (the numbers you know and love) we have 10 different symbols for numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. When counting, after passing 9, we have no individual symbol to write the number 10, so we write it with two symbols: one in the "ten's place" and one in the "one's place", like so: | | In decimal (the numbers you know and love) we have 10 different symbols for numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. When counting, after passing 9, we have no individual symbol to write the number 10, so we write it with two symbols: one in the "ten's place" and one in the "one's place", like so: |