Octal Number System
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Table of Content:
🧮 Octal Number System
📘 Introduction:
The Octal Number System is a base-8 number system.
It uses eight digits:0 to 7
Since it uses 8 as the base, each position in an octal number represents a power of 8.
🔢 Digits Used:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
🧠 Positional Value Concept:
Like other positional systems, the value of each digit depends on its position (right to left) and the base raised to that position.
🧮 General Formula:
Value of an Octal number
dₙ dₙ₋₁ ... d₀=dₙ × 8ⁿ + dₙ₋₁ × 8ⁿ⁻¹ + ... + d₁ × 8¹ + d₀ × 8⁰
✅ Example 5 (Corrected):
= 6 × 8² + 5 × 8¹ + 7 × 8⁰ = 6 × 64 + 5 × 8 + 7 × 1 = 384 + 40 + 7 = (431)₁₀
(657)₈
✅ Another Example:
(123)₈
= 1 × 8² + 2 × 8¹ + 3 × 8⁰ = 64 + 16 + 3 = (83)₁₀
🔄 Octal to Decimal Table:
| Octal | Decimal |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 7 |
| 10 | 8 |
| 11 | 9 |
| 12 | 10 |
💡 Applications of Octal:
Used in early computer systems
Easier to convert to/from binary (1 octal digit = 3 binary digits)
Still used in Unix file permissions (e.g.,
chmod 755)
🧾 Summary:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Base | 8 |
| Digits Used | 0 to 7 |
| Positional System | Yes |
| Easy to Convert With | Binary |
| Used In | Legacy computing, Unix permissions |