Question 3 - Figure it out - Page 60, 61 - Chapter 3 Class 8 - A Story of Numbers (Ganita Prakash)

Transcript

Question 3 Identify the features of the Hindu number system that make it efficient when compared to the Roman number system.The Hindu number system (which is the one we use today: 0, 1, 2, 3...) is much more efficient than Roman numerals (I, V, X, L...) for three main reasons: A. The Place Value System Hindu: The position of a digit tells you its value. In the number 55, the first '5' is worth 50, and the second '5' is just 5. Roman: Symbols generally have a fixed value (X is always 10). To write big numbers, you just have to keep adding more letters (like XXX for 30), which makes the numbers very long and hard to read. B. The Concept of Zero (0) Hindu: We have a specific symbol (0) that acts as a placeholder. It tells us the difference between 1 and 10 and 100. Roman: They had no symbol for zero. This made advanced math and distinguishing between numbers much harder. C. Ease of Calculation Hindu: Because of place value and base-10, we can easily stack numbers to add, subtract, or multiply (like carrying over the 1). Roman: Try multiplying MCVII by XIV. It is extremely difficult! You can't stack them up easily.