Numerals

A numeral is a symbol used to represent a number. Numerals are made up of digits; 1 is a digit, "123" is made up of 3 digits, and "123" is a numeral that represents the number one hundred twenty-three (note that "one hundred twenty-three" is also a numeral). There are many different ways to represent the same number using various numerals, as shown below for the number 8.

Numeral vs number

The terms number and numeral are often used interchangeably, but they are technically not the same thing.

A number is a mathematical object used for counting and measurement. Numerals are the symbols used to represent numbers. For example, if John has 5 cookies, he can indicate this by writing the number "5," the word "five," the roman numeral "V," or he can hold up 5 of his fingers. There are many different ways to express the number of cookies that John has using various numerals, but all of the numerals still mean that he has 5 cookies.

Decimal numeral system

A numeral system is a set of rules and symbols used to represent numbers. The most commonly used numeral system is the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, a positional numeral system that uses the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9.

The decimal numeral system is an extension of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system that includes non-integer numbers. In the decimal numeral system, each digit in a numeral has a place value.

For example, the numeral "2" represents the number two. On the other hand, the numeral "222" represents the number two hundred twenty-two. Each of the digits is the same, but in the numeral 222, each of the 2s has a different value. The left-most 2 is in the hundreds place, the middle 2 is in the tens place, and the right-most 2 is in the ones place. Their value is determined by what position they are in, which is referred to as their place value. The numeral 222 can be expanded as follows:

222 = 2 × 10² + 2 × 10¹ + 2 × 10⁰

222 = 2 × 100 + 2 × 10 + 2× 1

222 = 200 + 20 + 2

In the decimal numeral system, negative numbers are indicated using a negative sign (-), and a decimal point (.) is used to separate the integer portions of a numeral from the decimal portions. For example, negative two hundred twenty-two and two tenths is written as: -222.2.