Radix

In a positional numeral system, the radix (pl. radices) or base is the number of unique digits, including the digit zero, used to represent numbers. For example, in decimal systems (the most common systems in use today) the radix is ten. In any standard positional numeral system, a number is conventionally written as (x)y with x as the string of digits and y as its base. For base ten, the subscript is usually assumed and omitted (together with the enclosing parentheses), as it is the most common way to express value. For example, (100)10 is equivalent to 100 (the decimal system is implied in the latter) and represents the number one hundred, while (100)2 (in the binary system with base 2) represents the number four. Electronic computers process and store information in the simplest way, as bits of binary code, which have a radix of 2.