Binary number through each symbol, in increasing order. Before examining binary counting, it is useful to briefly discuss the more familiar decimal counting system as a frame of reference. Decimal counting uses the ten symbols "0" through "9". Counting begins with the incremental substitution of the least significant digit (rightmost digit) which is often called the "first digit". When the available symbols for this position are exhausted, the least significant digit is reset to "0", and the next digit of higher significance (one position to the left) is incremented ("overflow"), and incremental substitution of the low-order digit resumes. This method of reset
Binary number the decimal system). For example, the binary number 11.01 thus means: For a total of 3.25 decimal. All dyadic rational numbers formula_16 have a "terminating" binary numeral—the binary representation has a finite number of terms after the radix point. Other rational numbers have binary representation, but instead of terminating, they "recur", with a finite sequence of digits repeating indefinitely. For instance The phenomenon that the binary representation of any rational is either terminating or recurring also occurs in other radix-based numeral systems. See, for instance, the explanation in decimal. Another similarity is the existence of alternative representations for any terminating