Base 36

You know how we count with numbers like 1, 2, 3, all the way up to 10 and then we start again with 1 and 0 like 11, 12, 13, and so on? Well, base 36 works sort of the same way, but instead of just using 10 digits (0-9), we use 36 different symbols to represent numbers.

Those symbols are all the letters in the alphabet (A through Z) and the numbers 0-9. That’s 26 letters plus 10 numbers, which equals 36.

So, in base 36, we count like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, then A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.

When we get to the end of that sequence (Z), we would start over again with two digits (like 10), which stands for the number thirty-six.

Using base 36 can be useful in computing and other fields because it allows us to represent a large number of values with relatively few symbols. Plus, it can be fun to count in a different way!