How to Use Abacus

Abacus was one of the first forms of calculating tool used by man to perform complex questions. It was first used in ancient China for thousand of years before being replaced by electronic calculators. Though rarely used for calculations, it is nowadays used just for fun. To learn how to use the abacus, follow the simple steps.

• Learn its basic features before using it. Simply, the abacus is made up of two distinct parts, one on the top while the other at the bottom. There are beads arranged in columns in both the lower and the top part.

• In the top part of each column, there are two beads while at the lower part there are five beads. The beads in the upper part are given a numerical value of tenths. For example, moving from left to right, the first column beads represents a value of ones, the next column represents ten, then hundreds, thousands and so on. The beads located in the top part are five times the value of those in the lower part.

• Begin with the bottom beads. Shake the abacus a little to ensure that all beads are at the bottom. Ensure the part with two beads is on top of the section with five beads.

• Input the first number but before that ensure that the numbers are divided to form single digits. For instance, break the number 25 into 2 tens plus 5 units.

• Transfer a number of beads that equals the tens digit from the tens column. In the above example the tens digit is two, thus move 2 beads. Proceed to move number of beads that equals the units’ digits from the units’ column. In this case the unit number is five, thus move 5 beads.

• Inputting the second number depends on whether the calculation is subtraction or addition.

• When subtracting, first break the number into digits. Then move the top beads to the bottom part.

• When adding divide, the number into digits then move additional beads to the ones already above.

• The final step is finding the total or sum. Make sure to count the beads in each column so as to obtain each digit’s value. If any value is greater than nine, take away ten from that value then add, one to the digit. For instance, if one obtains 2 hundreds, 14 tens and 1 in the units position to get the actual total, minus 10 from 14 tens, then add 1 to the 2 in the hundreds column. The result will be 341.

The Abacus is great way to get a child started in learning how to count as well as keep the child busy. One can also use it for fun as a reminder of how calculators came to be.