Search for Science Fair Projects

1000 Science Fair Projects with Complete Instructions

Base Number Systems

Base number systems are ways of counting that use a set number of digits before starting a new column.

Think of it this way

Counting in base ten means you fill a row of ten cups before starting a new row. When all ten cups in a row are full, you set one block in a bigger tray and empty the cups. In base two, you only need two cups per row — fill both, and you move one block to the tray. The tray holds groups, and the cups hold singles.

Explaining base number systems by grade level

You know how ones, tens, and hundreds each get their own column. That happens because we count with ten digits, zero through nine. Some systems use fewer digits. A system with only two digits, zero and one, fills up columns much faster.

Projects that explore base number systems

Number Sequences and Base System Patterns

Each time you count through all available digits and carry over to a new column, you are working inside a base number system. When the first thirty terms of figurate number sequences are translated into bases 2 through 20 on a spreadsheet, the resulting digits — read back as base-10 numbers — produce twenty distinct patterns. Most of those patterns trace back to the original sequences that generated them, and some even reveal unexpected connections between sequences that appeared unrelated.

Hard