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Apologies in advance if this is a silly question, but I was curious if the base 32 numeral system has a "name" in the same way that several other numeral systems do.

  • Base 8: Octal
  • Base 10: Decimal
  • Base 16: Hexadecimal
  • Base 32: ?

I was unable to find an answer on my own, so whatever the answer is, I assume it's not in general use.

Hubro
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1 Answers1

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I believe it would be called duotrigesimal. The reasoning behind this is that, for example, base 12 is duodecimal, the name for the tens digit with the ones digit tacked on at the front. As base 30 is known as trigesimal, I assumed that similar logic could be made.

For further research regarding the names of different bases, this website is most helpful: http://www.numberbases.com/terms/basename1.html

PiGuy314
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  • The distinction between hexadecimal (16) and sexagesimal (60) seems to suggest there may not actually be a systematic approach to these names in English – Henry Sep 29 '21 at 11:57
  • While you may be right, note that in your example, sexagesimal is the number 60, while the "hexa-" in hexadecimal is the number 6 used as a prefix. In my example, "duo-" is used as a prefix for bases greater than 10 that end in 2, and "trigesimal" is used for the number 30. Thus, "trigesimal" with the prefix "duo-" should be 32. – PiGuy314 Sep 29 '21 at 12:06
  • It is not important, but the hexa- of hexadecimal is Greek, while the duo- of duodecimal is Latin as is the sex- of sexagesimal, so it is not clear that there is systematic rule – Henry Sep 29 '21 at 12:11
  • I see your point. I will look into it. – PiGuy314 Sep 29 '21 at 12:16
  • That sounds like an unpleasant procedure to be done by a gastroenterologist. ;) – ncmathsadist Sep 29 '21 at 12:22