Abacus

The Abacus

The abacus is one of the most ancienct tools used for quick math. Although different forms of it have been found in different places, most people think that the babylonians and the Chinese were the first to create. Today the Chinese and Japanese abuci are the most recognized and popular forms. The abacus shows numbers that are represented by beads. The top row of beads, known as heaven beads, count as five, and the bottom row, known as earth beads, count for 1. You only add the beads together when they are in the middle of the abacus. Each bar with beads on it represents one digit place in a number. The Abacus shown here presents the number 37,925. This is a picture of a Chinese abacus, if it were a Japanese abacus the top row would only have one bead per bar. The Chinese and Japanese abaci were not the only ones. Throughout time we have found them all over the world. Today we have discovered Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Russian, and a Native American tool that is similar to an abacus.