Name of base sixteen system – UGC NET Question

The system that employs symbols 0–9 and A–F contains sixteen distinct digit symbols. A number system with sixteen symbols is called a hexadecimal system. It is widely used in computing to represent binary data compactly. Therefore hexadecimal is the correct name for this base-16 system.

Option A:
Option A is correct because hex means six and deci means ten, together implying sixteen. The symbol set 0–9 and A–F fits exactly with this description. This terminology is standard in computer science.

Option B:
Option B refers to the binary system, which uses only the digits 0 and 1. It has base 2 and not base 16, so it cannot match a system using sixteen symbols.

Option C:
Option C denotes the octal system, which uses digits 0–7 and therefore has base 8. Octal does not use letters A–F as part of its symbol set. Hence it does not fit the description.

Option D:
Option D is the decimal system, which is limited to digits 0–9 and has base 10. It lacks the letter symbols A–F that extend the value range to fifteen.