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Forms of Counting: Number Elements Finite Set

Counting is the process of determining the number of elements in a set by continually increasing a counter as each element is visited, to avoid double counting. It involves marking visited elements. Relatedly, enumeration uniquely identifies set elements by assigning numbers. Counting predates written numerals, with evidence suggesting humans have counted for over 50,000 years, used in accounting and developing mathematics. Counting can be verbal, using tally marks, with fingers, or tools like abacuses.

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58 views1 page

Forms of Counting: Number Elements Finite Set

Counting is the process of determining the number of elements in a set by continually increasing a counter as each element is visited, to avoid double counting. It involves marking visited elements. Relatedly, enumeration uniquely identifies set elements by assigning numbers. Counting predates written numerals, with evidence suggesting humans have counted for over 50,000 years, used in accounting and developing mathematics. Counting can be verbal, using tally marks, with fingers, or tools like abacuses.

Uploaded by

Azreen Anis azmi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Counting is the process of determining the number of elements of a finite set of objects.

The
traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a (mental or spoken) counter by a unit
for every element of the set, in some order, while marking (or displacing) those elements to avoid
visiting the same element more than once, until no unmarked elements are left; if the counter was
set to one after the first object, the value after visiting the final object gives the desired number of
elements. The related term enumeration refers to uniquely identifying the elements of
a finite (combinatorial) set or infinite set by assigning a number to each element.
Counting sometimes involves numbers other than one; for example, when counting money, counting
out change, "counting by twos" (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, ...), or "counting by fives" (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, ...).
There is archaeological evidence suggesting that humans have been counting for at least
50,000 years.[1] Counting was primarily used by ancient cultures to keep track of social and economic
data such as the number of group members, prey animals, property, or debts (that is, accountancy).
Notched bones were also found in the Border Caves in South Africa that may suggest that the
concept of counting was known to humans as far back as 44,000 BCE.[2] The development of
counting led to the development of mathematical notation, numeral systems, and writing.

Forms of counting[edit]

Counting using tally marks at Hanakapiai Beach

Further information: Prehistoric numerals and Numerical digit


Counting can occur in a variety of forms.
Counting can be verbal; that is, speaking every number out loud (or mentally) to keep track of
progress. This is often used to count objects that are present already, instead of counting a variety of
things over time.
Counting can also be in the form of tally marks, making a mark for each number and then counting
all of the marks when done tallying. This is useful when counting objects over time, such as the
number of times something occurs during the course of a day. Tallying is base 1 counting; normal
counting is done in base 10. Computers use base 2 counting (0s and 1s).
Counting can also be in the form of finger counting, especially when counting small numbers. This is
often used by children to facilitate counting and simple mathematical operations. Finger-counting
uses unary notation (one finger = one unit), and is thus limited to counting 10 (unless you start in
with your toes). Older finger counting used the four fingers and the three bones in each finger
(phalanges) to count to the number twelve.[3] Other hand-gesture systems are also in use, for
example the Chinese system by which one can count to 10 using only gestures of one hand. By
using finger binary (base 2 counting), it is possible to keep a finger count up to 1023 = 210 − 1.
Various devices can also be used to facilitate counting, such as hand tally counters and abacuses.

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