Saturday, January 4, 2003 |
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CALCULATOR to computer (about abacus Abu): "One 1-bead in the 10’s column with one 1-bead in the 1’s column denotes 11 on the middle bar or the abacus’ beam. When the count reaches 15, reset bottom deck and carry one 5-bead over to the upper deck.
When the count reaches 20 (with one
5-bead in the upper deck and five 1-beads in the lower deck), carry one
more 5-bead over to the upper deck and reset lower deck. Then, carry one
1-bead over to the column on the left and reset upper deck." |
"Counting 5 1-beads on the lower deck requires a carry of one 5-bead to the upper deck. Counting 2 beads on the upper deck requires a carry of 1 1-bead on the lower deck of the column on the left.
Every bead in the lower deck stands for 1 and every bead in the upper deck has value 5. Every column to the left of one’s column is an order of magnitude greater."
(to be continued; write at
The Tribune or adityarishi99@yahoo.co.in) |