#dozenal system

[aliengee]

MY ALGEBRALIEN OC

my oc. pls treat it kindly. credit if used. she/it

its Ɛ (pronounced el) its a symbol representing the value of eleven in the duodecimal system! ;P

[wiskwa-en]

Twelve fingers

What if we had twelve fingers and no decimal but a dozen-al system

So ten becomes the new twelve, you need two new number symbols for the old ten and eleven and new words for them, how does that work with the multiplication tables and with arithmetic in general? Then you will eventually need need more new words, for the 100 and the 110, etc. I was lead to this question because things in packaging are easier to distribute in 2x6, 3x4, 4x3 or 6x2.

The system described here is well known. The dozenal, base 12 or duodecimal, system is being used here and there and is for arithmetic a bit more convenient than our decimal system because, as noted in the explanation, 12 has more divisors than 10. You can work duodecimally on one hand: the phalanges of the four fingers (and you count them with your thumb).

Normal arithmetic does not really change: adding and subtracting still works with carrying and borrowing, we would need to learn two more multiplication tables. It would be a good exercise to create some sums and try to do those, say with A and B as the `digits' for ten and eleven: A+A=…, A×B=…, 12+2B=…, 12×2B=…

And yes, we would need adopt or invent a few more words to pronounce the numbers. Counting in hide-and-seek would take a bit longer: "eleventy-nine, eleventy-ten, eleventy-eleven, gross … I'm coming"

[urdchama]

I have just learned about the dozenal system. @_@ Oh. My. Ghawd. Any math ppl in the house? Hold my hand, cozins, my brain is trying to burst thru my ears. I… really shouldn’t have done this right before bed. @_________@

[k-k--k---k-kk---kkkk----k-k-k--k]

This is it guys. I just fell in love with the dozenal numbering system. 

[thelegendarylemurian]

This makes so much sense...excuse me while I retrain my brain