Is there a more elegant way to express eg 14% (Base_10) in Octal?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nik_2213
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on expressing the decimal value of 14% in octal notation, exploring whether there is a more elegant representation than 11/100 in base 8. The conversation suggests that octal representation might approximate 14% as about 1/12th, which translates to 0.112 in octal for accuracy. The conversion process is examined, revealing that 14 in decimal equals 16 in octal, leading to various fraction representations like 7/62 in octal. The challenges of performing arithmetic in octal are noted, particularly in division, where confusion arises from the lack of familiarity with octal multiplication tables. Additionally, there is a tangential mention of the complexity of legacy measurement systems in the UK and the difficulty in finding convenient terms for octal equivalents, with a suggestion of using "Nine Gadols" for 14% in base 8.
Nik_2213
Messages
1,218
Reaction score
493
Is there a more elegant way to express eg 14% (Base_10) in Octal than as eg 11/100 {Base_8} ?

Tangential: Has any-one seen a Base_8 slide-rule, be-it linear or circular ??
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Nik_2213 said:
Is there a more elegant way to express eg 14% (Base_10) in Octal than as eg 11/100 {Base_8} ?

Tangential: Has any-one seen a Base_8 slide-rule, be-it linear or circular ??
Surely, like us, an octal-based critter would round it to the nearest easy fraction - which for them would be "about 1/12th". (Because (Base_8) 1/12th is (Base_10) 1/10th).

But if it had to go for accuracy, they'd dispense with the fractions (as do we) and say "exactly 0.112".

(Did I get those numbers right? I really struggled in base notation in grade school.)
 
Last edited:
DaveC426913 said:
(Did I get those numbers right? I really struggled in base notation in grade school.)
Well, $$\frac{14_{10}}{100_{10}} = \frac{16_8}{144_8} = \frac{7_8}{62_8}$$ which I'm positive about.

Then I watched a YT vid on dividing in octal and got confused. So, try it the hard way...

<octal>
7/62 = 0%7
70/62=1%6
60/62=0%60
600/62=probably 6 or 7, no clue of the carry.
</octal>

so, I get as far as ##0.107_8## before my failure to memorize the ##10_8 \times## table kicks in. Ah, the follies of youth...
 
Last edited:
Tangential: Bane of DIY in UK is the zoo of legacy systems. BSP garden taps, any-one ? I grew up with 'Imperial' mensuration, segued to 'scientific. Then I ran into US imports such as HPLC systems that took eg #10-24 and #10-32 UNC/UNF, the latter finger-tight to 200 Bar !!

Extending the above posters' suggestions, I reckoned that, like eg 11_Base10 and 100_Base10 there'd be convenient words for their equivalents_Base8.

I came up with 14% _Base10 == Nine Gadols_Base8 ( To 2½ DP ?) [[ Insert local glyphs for 64Gadolinium ]]

I'm sorry, given Sumerians etc used Base60, my Google-fu failed me on any better way to express 64_Base10...
 
A map of a four-dimensional planet is three dimensional, so such can exist in our Universe. I made one and posted a video to the Internet. This is all based on William Kingdon Clifford's math from the 19th century. It works like this. A 4D planet has two perpendicular planes of rotation. The intersection of such a plane with the surface of the planet is a great circle. We can define latitude as the arctan( distance from one plane/distance from the other plane). The set of all points...
Back
Top