Running head: NUMERATION ESSAY 1

Numeration Essay

Judith Quintero-Ramirez

Math 2010

10/17/18

Salt Lake Community College

NUMERATION ESSAY 2

Egyptian symbol is a based ten system, like the current system we use. This numeration

system uses hieroglyphics for each place value. The current system has numbers from 1-9. There

are more symbols in the current system although you still can write out all the numbers in

Egyptian. The Egyptian system is like using manipulatives in math.

They have the same place values. For example, if we have two scroll, one yoke, and six

staffs, the number we would get is two hundred and sixteen or 216. When we learn how to add

and exchange, we use flats, rods, and units which is precisely how adding with the Egyptian. The

numeration system does not have a symbol for zero although there is not much of a need. If there

is a zero, there is no need to use any symbols in the place value. For example, four scrolls and

two staffs, the current number would be 402. There is zero yoke which is implied while in the

current symbol we have a symbol for zero. The symbols in the current symbol can be placed in

any place value; the Egyptian system has different symbols for the place values.

The Mayan system is a twenty-base numeration. Unlike the current system which is a

base-ten system. The Mayans have a zero in the numerations which makes this system from the

past stand out. They use four symbols which are then placed in different place values. The

number is written vertically. Each positional value is multiplied depending on the positions. The

first level is multiplied by one. The second is multiplied by (18*20), in positional value three, it
NUMERATION ESSAY 3

is multiplied by (18*20^2). Let’s look at an example, In the image below we can see how we

multiply depending on the positional value.

The power keeps going up. In the current system, the ten behaves like the twenty in the

sense that the powers go up and that is how the system works. We are essentially multiplying in

both systems with positional value. If we want to write out 42 in the current system, it is broken

down to 4*10^1 + 2*10^0. The current system is written from left to right and is a bit easier to

read because it is what we are used to seeing every day.

NUMERATION ESSAY 4

References

Long C., DeTemple D., & Millman R. (2015). Mathematical reasoning for elementary teachers.
(7th ed). Boston: Pearson