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Numbers
History of numbers
History of numbers
History of numbers
1. Several highly developed civilization were able to develop their number system
Ancient Egyptians Ancient Greeks Romans Mayans
2. They used items to represent numbers
3. The number system helped ancient people to have an accurate control of their goods or
the quantities of the products they exchanged accurately.
4. We know about these number systems because we found their symbols written on
different places
Egyptian number system
For example:
Use Egyptian number system to write
Your age Your year of birth This year
Question: Can you explain why we no longer use this number system?
Hindu-Arabic number system
The Hindu – Arabic number system was developed in India about 2000 years ago.
The Hindu – Arabic number system uses 10 digits to construct all natural number; so
it is more efficient.
For example: we can make combinations of 3 and 8 to form 38 (thirty eight) and 83
(Eighty three). 38 and 83 are two different numbers because digits 3 and 8 have
different values
Place values
57 8274
709 531740
5076
923
3429
Mysterious Number