Tag Archives: systems

Number Systems

In our number systems lecture we were exploring patterns, sequences and similarities. In particular, we were asked to consider why we have numbers? Of course there were multiple answers to this:

  • money ~ pocket money, buying products, banking figures
  • counting ~ shopping, people, stairs
  • weight ~ baking/cooking, scales
  • time ~ bed time/bath time, appointments
  • shape ~ tiling cans, pictures
  • angles ~ stairs, picture frames

We don’t always think about numbers but realistically they are all around us. We need to have an understanding of numbers for the majority of our day-to-day activities. Without this understanding our mathematical thinking would be non-existent.

Numerals

Next we were asked to consider different types of numerals. Numerals are defined to be symbols used to represent a number.

As we know, there isn’t just one numerical system present. There are many different systems throughout the world. Here are a few examples:

e-numerals-hindu-arabic

After exploring some of the other numerical systems in the world we were asked to create our own, new, numerical system. Here is what I came up with:

numerical system

Within my numerical system I began with straight forward lines then advanced onto shapes. I’m not entirely sure how this process would work after 20 but it looks understandable up until now!