Talk:Using an Abacus

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[edit] Uncanonical Calculation Order?

Every other source I've read about the abacus recommends working left to right. That is, beads higher in value before beads lower in value (hundreds before tens, tens before ones).

It's also odd that the addition instructions specify right to left, while for subtraction it is left to right.

I think its because in multiplication you work from right to left. Possibly because you're using the full abacus?

[edit] Other Abacus Types?

This page appears to assume an abacus with a five-and-two arrangement, rather than the more modern four-and-one. Would it make sense to adjust it, and if not, at least acknowledge how one abacus can differ from another?

I think we should teach using both kinds and the reader should choose what they want to study. The two most prevalent are the 5-and-2-beaded Chinese abacus (suanpan) and the 4-and-1-beaded Japanese abacus (soroban) which was derived from the Chinese version. There's even a 10-beaded Russian abacus and an Incan abacus was recently discovered that's based on knotted ropes, but those can probably wait.

--Everlong 22:14, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Templates?

Anyone up for making snazzy templates like the Chess Wikibook? Look at the following board setup:

Now look at the wiki-code for it:

{{Chess diagram|=
|tleft
|
|=
8 |xx|  |  |  |xx|  |  |  |=
7 |  |xx|  |  |xx|  |  |xx|=
6 |  |  |xx|  |xx|  |xx|  |=
5 |  |  |  |xx|xx|xx|  |  |=
4 |xx|xx|xx|xx|ql|xx|xx|xx|=
3 |  |  |  |xx|xx|xx|  |  |=
2 |  |  |xx|  |xx|  |xx|  |=
1 |  |xx|  |  |xx|  |  |xx|=
   a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h
|}}
{{-}}

This format could quickly be translated into easily-altered images of all the types of abaci out there. Just awesome as I think about it.

— Everlong 15:25, 5 April 2006 (UTC)