![]() The person operating the abacus performs calculations in their head and uses the abacus as a physical aid to keep track of the sums, the carrys, etc. The abacus is a device, usually of wood (romans made them out of metal and they are made of plastic in modern times), having a frame that holds rods with freely-sliding beads mounted on them.īoth the abacus and the counting board are mechanical aids used for counting they are not calculators in the sense we use the word today. The counting board is a piece of wood, stone or metal with carved grooves or painted lines between which beads, pebbles or metal discs were moved. It is important to distinguish the early abacuses (or abaci) known as counting boards from the modern abaci. What is the difference between a counting board and an abacus? When the Hindu-Arabic number system came into use, abaci were adapted to use place-value counting.Ībaci evolved into electro-mechanical calculators, pocket slide-rules, electronic calculators and now abstract representations of calculators or simulations on smartphones. The abacus is one of many counting devices invented to help count large numbers. ![]() Various portable counting devices were invented to keep tallies. Merchants who traded goods needed a way to keep count (inventory) of the goods they bought and sold. Then, as even larger quantities (greater than ten fingers and toes could represent) were counted, various natural items like pebbles, sea shells and twigs were used to help keep count. The earliest counting device was the human hand and its fingers, capable of counting up to 10 things toes were also used to count in tropical cultures. It is difficult to imagine counting without numbers, but there was a time when written numbers did not exist. The abacus is one of many types of counting devices which are used to count large numbers. Even when you have completed a level, you can continue practicing at that level, but it gives you no more knowledge points.Abacus is a Latin word that has its origins in the Greek words abax or abakon (meaning "table" or "tablet") which in turn, possibly originated from the Semitic word abq, meaning "sand". A cleared level has a green background above. You only earn knowledge points for levels that has not been cleared before. In Abacus - Basics, the maximum number of collectable gold medals is 9. A gold medal will be received after 10 completed rounds. You'll get a bronze medal when you complete a level 2 times and a silver medal after 5 completed rounds. The maximum number of points (18 knowledge points) is achieved when you pass all 9 levels. With a standard computer the beads are moved with the mouse.Ĭalculation of knowledge pointsEach completed game level gives 2 knowledge point in Abacus - Basics. In this game, it is only possible to have the correct fingering with an iPad or other touchpad. This means that the right index finger moves the beads above the beam and the right thumb moves the beads beneath the beam. When using a real abacus, it is important to have the correct fingering. When two beads has been counted in the upper deck, these are switched for one bead in the lower deck of the rod to the left. When five beads have been counted in the lower deck, these are switched for one bead in the upper deck of the same rod. The beads in the upper deck get their values when they are moved down to the beam. In the lower deck, the beads get their values when they are moved upwards to the narrow strip, the beam. The next rod represents the hundreds, and so on. The beads in the second rightmost rod matches the tens. The beads in the rod at the far right represents the ones. Once you master this game, please move on to practicing counting addition on abacus.Įach of the two beads of the upper deck of the abacus represents five units, and each of the five beads on the bottom deck of the rods is worth one unit. This is only the basics of using an abacus. But that counting frame didn't work the same way as an abacus does. Description of the abacus and game instructionsĪbacus, which is a Chinese counting frame, has been around for thousands of years and is China known as suan pan.īefore the pocket calculator ca to the western world, the teachers used a counting frame in schools to teach counting.
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