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The modern system of decimal numbers was introduced, along with so-called Arabic numerals, to Europe in the thirteenth century, although the Arabs learned them from the Indians (who may have learned it from the Chinese) centuries earlier. In the decimal system, there are nine unique symbols representing the numbers one through nine, plus a placeholder symbol representing no value, i.e. zero. The value of each digit is modified by its position in a group of digits, each position repesenting a power of ten multiplied by the numeral. Therefore, the right-most digit equals its base value, while the numeral next to the left equals ten times the base value of the numeral, and the next to the left one hundred times, and so on.

Decimal numbers may also be used to represent fractions, by the use of decimal fractions. Decimal fractions continue to the right of the right-most digit, seperated from the whole part of the number by a "decimal sign." In English-speaking countries, the decimal sign is a dot or point, called the "decimal point". In most continental countries, the decimal seperator is the comma. Just as the digits to the left of the decimal sign are multipled by powers of ten, the digits to the right are divided by powers of ten, so the the digit immediately right of the decimal is divided by ten, the next right by one hundred, and so on.

So a decimal number can be broken down as follows:

12345.67890 = 1x10000 +2x1000 +3x100 +4x10 +5x1 +6/10 +7/100 +8/1000 +9/10000 +0/100000

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