Essay on Abacus in detail
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The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the written Arabic numeral system.[1] The exact origin of the abacus is still unknown. The abacus essentially consists of a number of rows of movable beads or other objects, which represent digits. One of two numbers is set up, and the beads are manipulated to implement an operation involving a second number (e.g., addition), or rarely a square or cubic root.In earliest use the rows of beads could be loose on a flat surface, or sliding in grooves. Later the beads were made to slide on rods of some sort built into a frame, allowing faster manipulation. Abacuses are still made, often as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires. In the ancient world, particularly before the introduction of positional notation, abacuses were a practical calculating tool.
There are different modern implementations of the abacus. Some designs, like the bead frame consisting of beads divided into tens, are used mainly to teach arithmetic, although they remain popular in the post-Soviet states as a tool. Other designs, such as the Japanese soroban, have been used for practical calculations even involving numbers of several digits. For any particular abacus design, there are usually numerous different methods to perform calculations, which may include the four basic operations, and also square and cube roots. Some of these methods work with non-natural numbers (numbers such as 1.5 and 3⁄4).
Although today calculators and computers are usually used instead of abacuses, abacuses still remain in common use in some countries. Merchants, traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Africa use abacuses, and they are still used to teach arithmetic to children.[1] Some people who are unable to use a calculator because of visual impairment may use an abacus.
An abacus is a very old tool used for math. It is still used in some parts of the world. Sometimes blind people will use an abacus, because they can feel the numbers easily. The most common abacuses work by moving beads on rods.
An abacus is a very old tool used for math. It is still used in some parts of the world. Sometimes blind people will use an abacus, because they can feel the numbers easily. The most common abacuses work by moving beads on rods.AbacusAbacuses can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and people can use them to find the square root of whole numbers. Expert, or very good, abacus users can sometimes do math quicker than basic calculators. There is a common Chinese abacus. This abacus is split into two kinds of basic rows, the top is for the "5"s, and the bottom is for the "ones". There are one or two beads in the top rows, and four or five beads in the bottom ones. For example, 8 is one bead on top and 3 below, because 5 + 3 = 8. Every column represents a different digitThere was a time in the ancient period when number never existed and people used to count using their fingers and toes. However, the merchants of that period needed a counting device to calculate the inventories of the items that they bought and sold. These difficulties lead to the invention of several counting devices which assisted in working out large numbers. Abacus is one of those counting devices.Abacus is a Latin word that has originated from a Greek word 'abakon' or 'abax', meaning "tablet" or "table". This Greek work, in turn, is believed to have been originated from the Semitic word 'abq', meaning "sand".Like the counting boards, abaci are specifically designed for counting. However, they differ from the counting boards in many aspects. The counting boards are pieces of metal, wood or stone with carved grooves or painted lines between which metal discs, beads or pebbles were moved. The abaci are devices, usually made of wood, which have a frame that holds rods with freely-sliding beads mounted on them. Abaci are not quite different from the modern electromechanical calculators.People use abacus to execute calculations in their head and use the device as a physical help to keep track of the sums, the carry-overs, etc.Abaci are of different types. The Chinese abaci are referred to as suanpan. The Japanese abaci are referred to as soroban and the Russian ones are called as schoty.Even against the modern electronic calculators, abaci prove to be a comprehensive tool for simple arithmetic calculations. The simplicity and the appearance of the device appear to children just like another of their toys. As a result the children never feel bored while doing calculations on it. Abaci sharpen children's memory and enhance their ability to perform mental calculations. With regular usage, students can do the calculations without using abaci, by just visualizing abaci in their minds. The blind children who cannot perform calculations on paper use abaci for calculation.Abacus definitely comes as an ultimate solution for the students to make accurate and fast calculations.