Throughout ancient civilizations' appeared different numeration systems.

Currently, we

are using the Indo-Arabic numeration system which is the base ten system or decimal system.

The Indo-Arabic numeration system is similar to both the Egyptian system and the Roman

system in regards to using symbols to represent quantity. In these three systems, this quantity is

given in different amounts of units and they have their own rules.

Similar to the Indo-Arabic system, the Egyptian system can be compared to the number

10 and its powers. The Egyptians form of powers of 10 can be seen as combined symbols. Ex:

10^6 (is the man) 10^5 (fish) 10^4 (finger) 10^3 (flower) 10^2 (scroll) 10^1 (yoke) and 10^0

represents a staff. To write 2,342 & 14,026 in the Egyptian System can be written as seen below:

While the Indo Arabic system is written in either the decimal form such as (100,000 , 10,000 ,

1000, 100, 10, 1) or the powers of ten. Their symbols are called digits that are written using the

numbers 0-9. We currently use the powers of ten from the Indo Arabic system rather than the

Egyptian system. The current symbols to Indo-Arabic system can be seen below in modern and

current arabic.

(Adil, 2017).
 The Roman system is more commonly seen around the world such as on clocks but is not

used as much as the Indo-Arabic system when solving for mathematical problems. The Roman

system of numeration is also very similar to the Egyptian system because they are both

completely additive. The difference between this system and the Egyptian system was how it

was revised, in the classroom text “Mathematical Reasoning for Elementary Teachers” states,

"the subtractive principle was used to shorten the notation"(Long, Detemple, Millman, 2015, p.

129 ). This revision is seen in the combined total of 1,944 seen below:

Compared to the Indo-Arabic system, both Egyptian and Roman systems take a lot longer to

solve because of the subtractive principle or drawing, compared to using the powers of 10 and

“positional notation” (Long, Detemple, Millman, 2015, p. 133). The same problem can be

solved simpler with the Indo-Arabic system :

1,944 = 1* 1000 + 9*100 + 4*10 + 4*1 = 2*10^3 + 9*10^2 + 4* 10^1 + 4*10^0

= 1000 + 900+ 40 + 4

The most common method used by many mathematicians, scientists, and students is

using the current Indo-Arabic System (decimal system or powers of ten). Each system is

represented differently in shape and amount(units) are used differently when converting to a

higher number. The Indo-Arabic system only used 10 symbols and positional notation that

helped set it apart from both the Egyptian and Roman systems. Using either the Egyptian and
Roman systems have more tedious rules with amounts represented differently, however, the Indo

Arabic system will be the best to find a quick answer to a problem.

 Work Cited

Long, C. T., DeTemple, D. W., & Millman, R. S. (2015). Mathematical reasoning for

elementary teachers. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Adil,Syed. (2017) Arabic (ish?) Numerals. Five Guys Facts. https://medium.com/five-guys-

facts/arabic-ish-numerals-f1bb5f765676

Conner, J. J O.and Robertson, E.F (2000). Egyptian Numerals. http://www-history.mcs.st-

andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Egyptian_numerals.html

Mastin, Luke. (2010). The Story of Mathematics

.https://www.storyofmathematics.com/roman.html