Using an Abacus

8/14/2019 Using an Abacus

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Abacus/Introduction

The Abacus is the oldest of math tools that is still used in most places. The Abacus was made by ancient

people that made better the knowledge of the use of the abacus to better their learning in time and

construction.

The Abacus was once the only math tool and is considered a computer in thought. The use of a Abacus can be

as good as a use of a modern math tool, in good hands though. In the hands of an expert, the abacus can beat

a hand math tool at any math except for that of division

Abacus/Manual

A store owner selling stuff with an abacus

Using an abacus is not hard. Once you get used to the use of the abacus, you can use one just as well as a

modern hand math tool.

For a very long time the abacus had been used instead of today's math tools. It was not until recent times that

people made computers to make math tools. All the math that is in the world was mostly made and its thought

helped by an abacus. Things like geometry and tough math questions were all made by some lines in the dirt

and some stones.

Abacus/Manual/Appearance
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The look of the abacus should not be so hard to look at as many people think it is. The box that surrounds the

abacus is only there to keep the poles in place, which hold the beads.

The poles are located at the same spacing from each other for easy math use. The bar in the middle of the box

is the border between heavan and earth beads. The Earth beads are located on the left while the heavan

beads are located on the right.

The number of poles are different according to the amount of digits needed for a calculation. If one were

wanting to calculate in the hundreds one would only have three poles or rows. If millions were being used nine

rows would be on the abacus to match the amount of digits.

There are many other looks of the abacus but the most used is the boxed or Chinese abacus. Another type is

the Abox abacus which is a flat stone with scratches in the stone for a marble to be placed. When the marble is

put on or moved to a side the same thing happens as if you used a Chinese abacus.

Abacus/Manual/Columns

The columns of an abacus tell the different sections. The left section is for numbers 1-5 and once you reach the

fifth number you move a bead to the right on the right section. After you move both right beads to the right you

add a bead to the second row. You do this for all the math use needed.

Abacus/Manual/Earth beads

The earth beads of an abacus are located on the left side of the abacus and there are five so that you can

move the whole row to equal one heavan bead.

The earth beads are supposed to be different colored than the heavan beads and are usually colored black to

show that they are earth beads.
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Normally the earth bead is colored the same as the heaven beads because of stuff available. If the stuff can be

used then the correct colors will be shown by black marble or black painted wood or dark wood.

Abacus/Manual/Heavan beads

The heavan beads show that the person is reaching a higher rank. The reality of this is that the person is using

the beads to move onto the next row of earth beads.

One heavan bead is equal to five earth beads of the same row. When two heavan beads are moved to the right

then that equals one earth bead on the next level of earth beads.

Abacus/Manual/Expert use

The Expert use of a culculator requires high practice and much depth in the mathematical field. To be very

good at the math you need to know how to do the math first then practice the same principle by adding,

subtracting, multipling, and dividing. All math does it so it might not be easy but you need to practice.

Abacus/Manual/Quick use

Abacus heavan and earth beads

The quick use of an abacus is almost like the quick use of a math tool of today. If you have read the past

sections then you would know that there are five earth beads and two heavan bead to a row.

The addition, subtraction, multiplication, and divisions all are after this section and are in order from easiest to

hardest

Abacus/Manual/Quick use/Addition
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The addition for a abacus is very simple. Make a number, add the number of beads to your abacus, then add

more beads from the next number. Here is some good examples:

1+1=2

111101 110+

111101 110=

111011 110

4+1=5

101111 110+

111101 110=

111110 101

5+6=11

111110 101+

111101 101=

111110 011

Now these are for addition only so practice these. Even with rocks on

your desk can work just as well as with a regular chinese abacus,

although it may not be as fast.

Abacus/Manual/Quick use/Division

Division is about twice as hard as multiplication. To divide one must be able to cut the original number in half or

thirds or etc. to get another number. It is very hard for begginers and it is also hard for experts to do. Division is

the only thing that the modern calculator beats the abacus at. To do division you have to think of it the same

way as dividing on paper. Take the number, and multiply the number that is dividing by a number that is closest

to the original number and that is the end result. But the problem with that is that you have to think that through,

theres no easy way around in that fashion. A good example is:

6/3=2

110111 110x

111011 110= (this is the answer)

111101 101


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Another way to do division is to subtract what your dividing by then remember how many times

you subtracted and that is your answer. Heres an example of this:

8/2=4

110111 101- (count the minuses)

111011 110-

111011 110-

111011 110-

111011 110= (total count of 4 -2's)

111110 110 (zero)

So the answer to this question would be four because of the number

of times you had to subtract.

Here is another example to figure out a decimal.

5/4=1.25

111110 101-

101111 110=

111101 110 (total of 1 -4's with remainder of 1)

111101 110x

111110 011=

111110 011- (This is multiplied for 4 to fit into it)

101111 110-

101111 110=


111011 110x

111110 011=

111110 011 2-

101111 110-

101111 110-

101111 110-

101111 110-

101111 110=



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with this we take the number of times that we subtracted in each section and place them beside each other. We

then get 125 which is then decimaled by placing a decimal point after the first subraction set which leaves us

with 1.25.

Remember, this is no easy work. Keep practicing until your good at this then you might be able to beat that

calculator!

Abacus/Manual/Quick use/Multiplication

Multiplication with an abacus may not be so much easier than a calculator for a begginer, but with an expert the

abacus can be much faster than pressing a whole bunch of buttons. First, to multiply, you take your original

number and then you "multiply" by adding more of your original number until you have one less than the

number your multipling by. Heres an example:

2x3=6

111011 110x

110111 110=

111101 101

or in other words:

2+2+2=6

111011 110+

111011 110+

111011 110=

111101 101

Practice those till you understand the concept. It should start getting easier if

you imagine that your just adding three two's or five six's or whatever

combination.

Abacus/Manual/Quick use/Subtraction

Subtraction, as you may already know, is the opposite of addition. Simply just take away the numbers that you

have put on from your original number. Heres an example:


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5-2=3

111110 101-

111011 110=

110111 110

Practice these till you can figure it out. It may not be as speedy to make out but over time im sure

you will have a good course in it.

Abacus/Manual/Rows

There is at least one row of an abacus and up to as many can fit in the box. The first row stand for the first digit

for example 1-10. The next row up stands for an extra digit meaning that the next row stands for 10-100. Onceyou fill up a row, like that the entire row is moved to the right, then you move a bead to the right on the next

row.

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Using an Abacus