The Arabic and Hindu Numeral System
The Arabic and Hindu number system was developed around 800AD. Today this numeral system is very popular and widely used. Now we shall discuss the following four main attributes about this numeral system.
First, it uses ten digits or number symbols, and all the numbers we see around us are combinations of these ten digits. The digits are written as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Secondly, the system contains groups of tens, and we usually have ten digits on our hands. It may be noted that the word digits mean the fingers. In the Arabic and Hindu numeral system, ten ones, ten tens, ten hundreds and 10 one thousand and so on are replaced by one ten, one hundred, one thousand and 10 thousands and so on, respectively.
Thirdly, starting from right to left, it uses place value:
- The first number shows the number of ones it has.
- The second number shows the number of tens it has.
- The third number shows the number of hundreds it has.
- The fourth number shows the number of thousands it has.
- And so on …
For example if we examine the numeral 7594, there are 4 ones, 9 tens, 5 hundreds, and 7 thousands.
Finally, the value of a numeral is originated by multiplying every place value by its related digit and then adding the consequential products.
| Place Values: |
Thousands
|
Hundreds
|
Tens
|
Ones
|
| Digits: |
7
|
5
|
9
|
4
|
| Numeral Value: 7 X 1000 + 5 X 100 + 9 X 10 + 7 X 1 = 7000 + 500 + 90 + 7 = 7594 | ||||
Now some of the Arabic and Hindu numerals with their names are listed below:
| 0 | Zero | 10 | Ten |
| 1 | One | 11 | Eleven |
| 2 | Two | 16 | Sixteen |
| 3 | Three | 20 | Twenty |
| 4 | Four | 30 | Thirty |
| 5 | Five | 40 | Forty |
| 6 | Six | 100 | One Hundred |
| 7 | Seven | 680 | Six Hundred Eighty |
| 8 | Eight | 7085 | Even thousand eight-five |
| 9 | Nine | 58000 | Fifty-eight thousand |