Editing 2637: Roman Numerals
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
Roman numerals are the system of representing numbers used during the Roman Empire. The letters I, V, X, L, C, D, and M are used to represent numbers, with each letter representing a consistent value. Specifically, I represents 1, V represents 5, X represents 10, L represents 50, C represents 100, D represents 500, and M represents 1000. One way of stating the rules for combining Roman numerals next to each other are that a Roman numeral is added to a Roman numeral of equal or lesser value just to its right (e.g., II=1+1=2 because 1≥1, and VI=5+1=6 because 5≥1{{Citation needed}}), and a Roman number is subtracted from a Roman numeral of greater value just to its right (e.g., IV=5-1=4 because 1<5, and IX=10-1=9 because 1<10). (Also, each place must be written separately, e.g., one cannot represent 49 via IL but instead must represent the tens place and ones place separately via XL IX—although the space would not be included in practice). | Roman numerals are the system of representing numbers used during the Roman Empire. The letters I, V, X, L, C, D, and M are used to represent numbers, with each letter representing a consistent value. Specifically, I represents 1, V represents 5, X represents 10, L represents 50, C represents 100, D represents 500, and M represents 1000. One way of stating the rules for combining Roman numerals next to each other are that a Roman numeral is added to a Roman numeral of equal or lesser value just to its right (e.g., II=1+1=2 because 1≥1, and VI=5+1=6 because 5≥1{{Citation needed}}), and a Roman number is subtracted from a Roman numeral of greater value just to its right (e.g., IV=5-1=4 because 1<5, and IX=10-1=9 because 1<10). (Also, each place must be written separately, e.g., one cannot represent 49 via IL but instead must represent the tens place and ones place separately via XL IX—although the space would not be included in practice). | ||
| − | The modern system of representing numbers is a decimal positional notation using the numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). Westerners often call this system "Arabic numerals" or "Hindu–Arabic numerals" because they were invented in India and introduced to Europe by Arabic merchants. | + | The modern system of representing numbers is a decimal positional notation using the numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). Westerners often call this system "Arabic numerals" or "Hindu–Arabic numerals" because they were invented in India and introduced to Europe by Arabic merchants. Instead of concatenating several 1s, the single character 2 represents 1+1, 3 represents 1+1+1, etc… all the way to 9 representing 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1. Integers larger than nine are represented as a sum of digits multiplied by different powers of ten. Each time a digit is moved one place to the left, the value that it represents is multiplied by ten (e.g., moving 3 to the left, starting in the ones place, changes the value that it represents from three to three tens to three hundreds to three thousands…). Positional notations require a character for the additive identity, 0, to fill in any gaps so that the digits to its left are positioned correctly. The string "4096" represents 4×10<sup>3</sup>+0×10<sup>2</sup>+9×10<sup>1</sup>+6×10<sup>0</sup>. |
Thus in Roman numerals a digit always has the same absolute value but may be treated as positive or negative depending on the digit after it, whereas for Hindu-Arabic numerals, a digit's value changes by a power of 10 depending on its absolute position and is never subtracted. | Thus in Roman numerals a digit always has the same absolute value but may be treated as positive or negative depending on the digit after it, whereas for Hindu-Arabic numerals, a digit's value changes by a power of 10 depending on its absolute position and is never subtracted. | ||
