The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in Europe, China and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu-Arabic numeral system.
The exact origin of the abacus is still unknown. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of wood, stone, or metal.
Merchants, traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Africa use abaci, and they are still used to teach arithmetic to children.Some people who are unable to use a calculator because of visual impairment may use an abacus.
The earliest known written documentation of the Chinese abacus dates to the 2nd century BC.
Suanpans can be used for functions other than counting. Unlike the simple counting board used in elementary schools, very efficient suanpan techniques have been developed to do multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, square root and cube root operations at high speed. There are currently schools teaching students how to use it.
The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in Europe, China and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu-Arabic numeral system.
The exact...
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