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A number system in which the position of a digit in a number determines its value is called what?

  1. A binary system

  2. A whole number system

  3. A place value system

  4. An ordinal system

The correct answer is: A place value system

The choice you identified as correct refers to a place value system, which is fundamental to understanding how numbers are structured and interpreted in our numeral system. In a place value system, the position of each digit in a number determines its value based on powers of a base, usually 10 in the decimal system. For instance, in the number 253, the '2' represents 200 because it is in the hundreds place, the '5' represents 50 because it is in the tens place, and the '3' represents 3 because it is in the ones place. This positional nature allows for the efficient representation of large numbers and facilitates arithmetic operations. The other choices refer to different concepts. A binary system is a numeral system that consists solely of two digits, 0 and 1, and is used in computing. A whole number system represents all non-negative integers without regard to their position. An ordinal system, on the other hand, indicates the position or order of objects, such as first, second, third, and does not involve the concept of place value.