Humans have 10 fingers
so they use the numbers
0 to 9 for counting.
Penguins have only two
flippers so they can
only use 0 and 1.
Brand new human and
penguin cars have all
zeros displayed on the
odometer.
After traveling 1 mile
both display
So a 1 in this first
column means 1 mile in
both cars.
After traveling another
mile, the humans display
shows
However, as we saw at
the start, the penguin
doesn't have a 2.
So he resets the first
column to zero and puts
a 1 in the next column.
He says to himself, "a 1
in this second column is
worth 2 in decimal".
They both drive another
mile.
The humans car displays
3.
Since the penguin has
driven the same mile, he
puts a 1 in the first
column, which we know is
worth 1 mile in both
cars.
They drive another mile.
The humans car shows 4
The penguin has to reset
the first two columns to
zero and poke a 1 in the
third
He says, " a 1 in the
third column is the
worth 4 in the decimal
system."
So we can correctly
guess that a 1 in the
fourth column indicate
decimal 8
and a 1 in the next is
worth 16, and so on.
So when the odometer
shows 1111
the car has traveled 8+4
+2 +1 =15 decimal miles.
So adding up in penguin
is
0+0=0
0+1=1
1+0=1
1+1= zero and carry 1 =
10
Write the numbers from
nought to fifteen,
decimal, in penguin.
Penguin counting is the
same as BINARY COUNTING.
Binary is used in
digital electronic
systems, where they have
only two values of
voltage.
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