We use base notation to standardize bases.

Unlike drawing clocks and circles, base notation is the fast and common way to denote bases.

Pick a number to be your base: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Play with the circles below to see how the base notation changes.

How about notation for bases greater than 10?

Representing values using bases greater than 10 can get tricky quickly.
For example, do you know what this base notation is trying to represent?

Is it   10   5   11   ₁₆   or   1   0   5   1   1   ₁₆   ?

We use the alphabet for double-digit numbers.

In poker, we use the Jack for 11, the Queen for 12, and the King for 13. In computer science, we use A, B, C, D, E, F to represent a base 16 system also known as hexadecimal.
10 → A
11 → B
12 → C
13 → D
14 → E
15 → F