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Calculation

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For the card game, see Calculation (game).

Calculation results v   t   e
Addition (+)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle \left.{\begin{matrix}\scriptstyle {\text{summand}}\,+\,{\text{summand}}\\\scriptstyle {\text{addend (broad sense)}}\,+\,{\text{addend (broad sense)}}\\\scriptstyle {\text{augend}}\,+\,{\text{addend (strict sense)}}\end{matrix}}\right\}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{sum}}}$
Subtraction (−)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{minuend}}\,-\,{\text{subtrahend}}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{difference}}}$
Multiplication (×)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle \left.{\begin{matrix}\scriptstyle {\text{factor}}\,\times \,{\text{factor}}\\\scriptstyle {\text{multiplicand}}\,\times \,{\text{multiplier}}\end{matrix}}\right\}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{product}}}$
Division (÷)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle \left.{\begin{matrix}\scriptstyle {\frac {\scriptstyle {\text{dividend}}}{\scriptstyle {\text{divisor}}}}\\\scriptstyle {\text{ }}\\\scriptstyle {\frac {\scriptstyle {\text{numerator}}}{\scriptstyle {\text{denominator}}}}\end{matrix}}\right\}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}\scriptstyle {\text{fraction}}\\\scriptstyle {\text{quotient}}\\\scriptstyle {\text{ratio}}\end{matrix}}}$
Modulo (mod)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{dividend}}{\bmod {\text{divisor}}}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{remainder}}}$
Exponentiation
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{base}}^{\text{exponent}}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{power}}}$
nth root (√)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\sqrt[{\text{degree}}]{\scriptstyle {\text{radicand}}}}\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{root}}}$
Logarithm (log)
${\displaystyle \scriptstyle \log _{\text{base}}({\text{antilogarithm}})\,=\,}$	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\text{logarithm}}}$

A calculation is a deliberate process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more results, with variable change. The term is used in a variety of senses, from the very definite arithmetical calculation of using analgorithm, to the vague heuristics of calculating a strategy in a competition, or calculating the chance of a successful relationship between two people.

For example, multiplying 7 by 6 is a simple algorithmic calculation. Estimating the fair price for financial instruments using theBlack–Scholes model is a more complex algorithmic calculation.

Statistical estimations of the likely election results from opinion polls also involve algorithmic calculations, but produces ranges of possibilities rather than exact answers.

To calculate means to ascertain by computing.^{[citation needed]} The English word derives from the Latin calculus, which originally meant a small stone in the gall-bladder (from Latin calx). It also meant a pebble used for calculating, or a small stone used as a counter in an abacus (Latin abacus,Greek abax). The abacus was an instrument used by Greeks and Romans for arithmetic calculations, preceding the slide-rule and the electronic calculator, and consisted of perforated pebbles sliding on iron bars.

Comparison to computationEdit

Calculate comes from the Greek wordΚάχληκα or gravel in English because Greeks used gravel for counting. Calculation is a prerequisite for computation.^[1] The difference in the meaning of calculation and computationappears to originate from the late medieval period.^[2]

See alsoEdit

Look up calculation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Abacus
• Calculator
• Calculus (disambiguation)
• Calculability
• Computation
• Cost accounting
• List of algorithms
• Mathematics
• Mental calculation

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Abacus

For other uses, see Abacus (disambiguation).

"Abaci" and "Abacuses" redirect here. For the Turkish surname, see Abacı. For the medieval book, see Liber Abaci.

A Chinese abacus, Suanpan

Calculating-Table by Gregor Reisch:Margarita Philosophica, 1503. The woodcut shows Arithmeticainstructing an algorist and an abacist (inaccurately represented as Boethiusand Pythagoras). There was keen competition between the two from the introduction of the Algebra into Europe in the 12th century until its triumph in the 16th.^[1]

The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in Europe, China and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the writtenHindu–Arabic numeral system.^[1] The exact origin of the abacus is still unknown. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of wood, stone, or metal.

Abaci come in different designs. Some designs, like the bead frame consisting of beads divided into tens, are used mainly to teach arithmetic, although they remain popular in the post-Soviet states as a tool. Other designs, such as the Japanese soroban, have been used for practical calculations even involving several digits. For any particular abacus design, there usually are numerous different methods to perform a certain type of calculation, which may include basic operations like addition and multiplication, or even more complex ones, such as calculating square roots. Some of these methods may work with non-naturalnumbers (numbers such as 1.5 and  ³⁄₄).

Although today many use calculators andcomputers instead of abaci to calculate, abaci still remain in common use in some countries. Merchants, traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Africause abaci, and they are still used to teach arithmetic to children.^[1] Some people who are unable to use a calculator because of visual impairment may use an abacus.