Binary number numeric values may be represented by two different voltages; on a magnetic disk, magnetic polarities may be used. A "positive", "yes", or "on" state is not necessarily equivalent to the numerical value of one; it depends on the architecture in use. In keeping with customary representation of numerals using Arabic numerals, binary numbers are commonly written using the symbols 0 and 1. When written, binary numerals are often subscripted, prefixed or suffixed in order to indicate their base, or radix. The following notations are equivalent: When spoken, binary numerals are usually read digit-by-digit, in order to distinguish them from decimal
Combinatorial number system "C"<nowiki>'</nowiki>, since they have the same largest part 9, but the next largest part 6 of "C" is less than the next largest part 7 of "C"<nowiki>'</nowiki>; the sequences compared lexicographically are (9,6,4,3,0) and (9,7,3,1,0). Another way to describe this ordering is view combinations as describing the "k" raised bits in the binary representation of a number, so that "C" = {"c"...,"c"} describes the number (this associates distinct numbers to "all" finite sets of natural numbers); then comparison of "k"-combinations can be done by comparing the associated binary numbers. In the example "C" and "C"<nowiki>'</nowiki> correspond to numbers 1001011001 =