Abacus - Basics

Have you mastered the basics of using an abacus?

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About the abacus and how to play

The abacus, a Chinese counting frame, has existed for thousands of years and is called suan pan in China. Before the pocket calculator ca to the western world, the teachers used a counting frame in schools to teach counting. But that counting frame didn't work the same way as an abacus does.

This is only the basics of using an abacus. Once you master this game, please move on to practicing counting addition on abacus.

The value of the beads

Each of the two beads of the upper deck of the abacus represents five units, and each of the five beads on the bottom deck of the rods is worth one unit. The beads in the rod at the far right represents the ones. The beads in the second rightmost rod matches the tens. The next rod represents the hundreds, and so on.
In the lower deck, the beads get their values when they are moved upwards to the narrow strip, the beam. The beads in the upper deck get their values when they are moved down to the beam.

To switch on an abacus

When five beads have been counted in the lower deck, these are switched for one bead in the upper deck of the same rod. When two beads has been counted in the upper deck, these are switched for one bead in the lower deck of the rod to the left.

Fingering

When using a real abacus, it is important to have the correct fingering. This means that the right index finger moves the beads above the beam and the right thumb moves the beads beneath the beam. In this game, it is only possible to have the correct fingering with an iPad or other touchpad. With a standard computer the beads are moved with the mouse.

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