Answer to Question #342133 in Algebra for licks

Question

Base 10 place value system                                                                                   

(a) Where is early evidence of the base 10 place value system? (1)

(b) Approximately to what year does this evidence date back? (1)

(c) Give some detail of the base 10 place value system. (2)

(d) When in CAPS do learners start learning the base 10 place value system? (1)

Answer 1

Base-10 is used in most modern civilizations and was the most common system for ancient civilizations, most likely because humans have 10 fingers. Egyptian hieroglyphs dating back to 3000 B.C. show evidence of a decimal system. This system was handed over to Greece, although the Greeks and Romans commonly used base-5 as well. Decimal fractions first came into use in China in the 1st century B.C.

Using Base-10

Let's look at an example of a large number and use base-10 to determine each digit's place value. For instance, using the whole number 987,654.125, the position of each digit is as follows:

9 has a place value of 900,000

8 has a value of 80,000

7 has a value of 7,000

6 has a value of 600

5 has a value of 50

4 has a value of 4

1 has a value of 1/10th

2 has a value of 2/100th

Children learn to count before they learn to write numbers, just as they learn to speak

before they learn to write words. Even very young children understand that there are

special words to be said when counting and may be able to tell you how old they are,

or point to numbers in their environment. They might use number words, though often

incorrectly. For example, they may say “One, two, one, two…” as they touch a number of

objects to be counted.