Little Gems Abacus Center

the abacus to work out simple problems. The design of an abacus varies, depending on the region of the world it is from, but generally it consists of a frame that supports rods or wires. The rods hold beads that can be moved around on the frame to represent various numbers. In some cases, an abacus has a crossbeam that divides the rods; the beads above the beam are multiples of five, while those below are multiples of one. The name comes from the Greek abax, which means “counting board.” The Greeks used boards covered in sand to draw out equations as they worked on them, and they probably picked up the habit from the Hebrews, who used the word abaq to describe a counting board. Both the Greeks and Romans used various forms of the abacus; the Romans favored boards with grooves and beads or rocks, for example. The counting frame style with rods and beads appears to have originated in China.