Abacus facts for kids
An abacus is a very old tool used for doing math. People still use it in some parts of the world today. Sometimes, people who are blind use an abacus because they can easily feel the beads to count numbers. Most abacuses work by sliding beads along rods or wires.
How the Abacus Works
Abacuses can help you do many math problems. You can use them for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. People can even use them to find the square root of whole numbers.
Expert abacus users can sometimes do math problems faster than basic calculators. This shows how powerful this old tool can be!
The Chinese Abacus
One common type of abacus is the Chinese abacus, called a suanpan. It is split into two main parts. The top part has one or two beads, and these beads stand for "fives." The bottom part has four or five beads, and these beads stand for "ones."
For example, to show the number 8 on a Chinese abacus, you would move one bead from the top part (which is 5) and three beads from the bottom part (which are 1s). So, 5 + 3 equals 8. Each column on the abacus represents a different place value, like ones, tens, hundreds, and so on.
Why the Abacus is Useful
The abacus is a really useful tool for learning and doing math. It can also be a fun toy for younger children to play with and help them learn about numbers. It helps people understand how numbers work and how to solve problems.
Images for kids
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Calculating-Table by Gregor Reisch: Margarita Philosophica, 1503.
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An early photograph of the Salamis Tablet, 1899.
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A Chinese abacus (suanpan) (the number represented in the picture is 6,302,715,408)
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Copy of a Roman abacus
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Japanese soroban
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A yupana as used by the Incas.
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Russian schoty
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A twenty bead rekenrek
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Two binary abacuses constructed by Dr. Robert C. Good, Jr., made from two Chinese abacuses
See also
In Spanish: Ábaco para niños
