Convert 15 from decimal to octal
(base 8) notation:
Raise our base of 8 to a power
Start at 0 and increasing by 1 until it is >= 15
80 = 1
81 = 8
82 = 64 <--- Stop: This is greater than 15
Since 64 is greater than 15, we use 1 power less as our starting point which equals 1
Work backwards from a power of 1
We start with a total sum of 0:
The highest coefficient less than 7 we can multiply this by to stay under 15 is 1
Multiplying this coefficient by our original value, we get: 1 * 8 = 8
Add our new value to our running total, we get:
0 + 8 = 8
This is <= 15, so we assign our outside coefficient of 1 for this digit.
Our new sum becomes 8
Our octal notation is now equal to 1
The highest coefficient less than 7 we can multiply this by to stay under 15 is 7
Multiplying this coefficient by our original value, we get: 7 * 1 = 7
Add our new value to our running total, we get:
8 + 7 = 15
This = 15, so we assign our outside coefficient of 7 for this digit.
Our new sum becomes 15
Our octal notation is now equal to 17