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4-DIgIt NUMbErS oN thE AbACUS Century #Experiential Learning
Skills
spikes
An abacus is a tool used for counting. To represent a 4-digit
number on an abacus, we use an abacus with four spikes.

Let us read the numbers shown on these abacuses.

Th H T O

Th H T O Th H T O

Th H T O = 3 1 5 2 Th H T O = 5 3 0 8

3152 is read as three thousand one 5308 is read as five thousand three

hundred fifty-two. hundred eight.

representation of a Number using Symbols

Numbers can be expressed in symbolic form. We use symbols to represent every
number.

Example. If @ = 1000, # = 100, $ = 10 and % = 1, then how would you write the following
numbers?
a. 5234 b. 6801 c. 7000

Solution. a. 5234 = 5000 + 200 + 30 + 4
= @ @ @ @ @ + # # + $ $ $ + % % % %

b. 6801 = 6000 + 800 + 1

= @ @ @ @ @ @ + # # # # # # # # + %

c. 7000 = @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Exercise 1A

1. Form and read the numbers.

a. Th H T O
=

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Numbers