Abacus
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Submitted by xbetter0ffd3adx on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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Abacus
Introduction
The abacus is a mechanical instrument used for counting and a wide range of mathematical calculations. A standard abacus' abilities include: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the extraction of square and cube roots.
The abacus is typically constructed from some type of hardwood, and can be found in varying sizes. The abacus is made up of an outer frame with a series of vertical rods. On these rods are beads, which serve as the counting apparatus. There is a horizontal beam that runs through the frame, separating the beads into two segments, called the upper deck and the lower deck:
The abacus above an example of the one-four abacus. This simply means that the upper deck has one bead while the lower deck has four. Another common type of abacus is the two-five abacus. Both accomplish the same task. Each bead in the upper deck represents a value five, while each bead in the lower deck represents a value of one. Every row of beads to the left of the center (labeled "unit place" in this diagram) increases by 10 fold (displayed by the labeling of the rows at the bottom of the diagram). Each row of beads to the right of "unit place" decreases by ten fold (allowing the abacus to be used for decimals as well as rather large numbers, depending on the number of rods the abacus has). If the dot (unit place) on the above diagram was to be removed, the abacus would not be able to display decimals, and therefore the rightmost column would represent the ones, the next would represent the tens, and so on (allowing for even greater numbers to be displayed). The opposite is also true, allowing miniscule numbers to be displayed. This makes the abacus very versatile.
To use the abacus, one generally places it on a flat surface or one's lap, and begins by moving all of the beads away from the central beam (in the direction of the frame). The above picture is in this starting...
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