Abacus, Soroban, そろばん, Suan Pan, 算盘, Chinese, Japanese

thingiverse

Human: Abacus: Seven Digits, Two Versions, 90mm x 140mm, Chinese or Japanese, designed for easy assembly. The abacus is a timeless calculator that comes in various styles, still widely used in Asian cultures as a way to help children develop their number sense or as a fun toy. It makes a great-looking multi-wheeled toy car or a sound shaker like maracas! The Chinese abacus features seven beads on a vertical bar, while the Japanese version has five beads on a vertical bar. Generally, each bead in the lower deck represents one unit when moved towards the center beam. Each bead in the upper deck represents five units when moved to the center beam. On the Japanese abacus, each bar can represent zero to nine units. By contrast, the Chinese abacus allows the representation of zero through 15 units on each bar, thus supporting calculation using the base-16 system. For the base-10 system, the two beads at the very top and bottom are not used. Users have the flexibility to choose their own place for the decimal point, depending on their specific needs. As a result, the abacus is a blend of concrete and abstract representations. When working with small children, it's essential to educate them about the dangers of small parts and follow all safety procedures. Please remind young children not to put little parts in their mouth and have fun making and playing with your abacus! If you enjoy Android apps, my app can be found at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=appinventor.ai_moodle_bu.TouchAbacusforKids. References: 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus 2. Dilson, Jesse. (1968). The abacus: The world's first computing system: where it comes from, how it works, and how to use it to perform mathematical feats great and small. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.