Chapter 1

Number System

Introduction

 A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. Individual

numbers need to be represented by symbols, called numerals; for example “6” is a numeral
that represents the number six.
 A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers; i.e. a mathematical
notation for representing numbers of a given set, symbols (digits) in a consistent manner.
The most common numeral system is the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, which allows
representing any number by a combination of ten basic numerals called digits.
 In the Hindu-Arabic system, we use ten symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Out of these
ten digits, “0” is called insignificant digit whereas the others are called significant digits.

Types of Numbers

1. Natural numbers (N): The counting numbers {1, 2, 3 …} are commonly called natural
numbers; 1 is the smallest natural number.
2. Whole Number (W): All natural numbers plus zero form the set of whole numbers. Zero is
the smallest whole number. It is also called non-negative integers.
3. Integers (Z): Positive counting numbers (Z+), negative counting numbers (Z-), and zero is
called integers. Zero is neither positive nor negative integer.
a. Even and Odd Numbers: An integer is even it is divisible by two, and is odd
otherwise.
b. Prime Numbers: An integer is exactly divisible by 1 and itself. i.e. {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, …}
 2 is the only even prime number, and 3 is the lowest odd prime.
 Every prime number, greater than 3 can be represented as 6n+1, where n is
an integer.
c. Composite Numbers: Non-prime natural numbers or a number that can be
factored into a product of smaller integers.
4. Rational Numbers (Q): A number that can be represented as ratio of an integer to a non-
zero integer. All integers are rational, but the converse is not true.

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 5. Real numbers (R): Numbers that can represent a distance along a line. They can be
positive, negative, or zero. Real numbers include both rational and irrational numbers.
6. Irrational Numbers (I): A number that cannot be represented in the form of rational
numbers.
Example: - π ,√ 2, φ , etc.
7. Imaginary Numbers: Numbers that equal the product of a real number and the square root
of −1 (i). The number 0 is both real and imaginary.
8. Complex Numbers (C): Includes real numbers, imaginary numbers, and sums and
differences of real and imaginary numbers.

Representation and Value of Numbers

 To write a number, we put digits from right to left at the places designated as units, tens,
hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, lakhs, ten lakhs, crores, ten crores.
Let us see how “214879563” is denoted,

Ten Crores Crores Ten Lakhs Lakhs Ten Thousands Thousands Hundreds
Ten Units
s
108 107 106 105 104 103 102 101 100
2 1 4 8 7 9 5 6 3
“Twenty One Crore Forty Eight Lakh Seventy Nine Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Three”

 Face Value: In a numeral, the face value of a digit is the value of the digit itself irrespective
of its place in the numeral.
 Place value: Place value get from a numeral when multiply the digit with the value of its
place in the given numeral.

Operations on Numbers

1. Addition (+): Addition combines two numbers into a single number, the sum
2. Subtraction (-): Subtraction finds the difference between two numbers
3. Multiplication (x): Multiplication also combines two numbers into a single number, the
product