Mind boggling fractions – Ancient Tamils were aware of these fractions. (9 posts)

  • Profile picture of veegopalji veegopalji said 3 weeks, 2 days ago:

    fraction..

    *1 – ஒன்று
    3/4 – முக்கால்
    1/2 – அரை கால்
    1/4 – கால்
    1/5 – நாலுமா
    3/16 – மூன்று வீசம்
    3/20 – மூன்றுமா
    1/8 – அரைக்கால்
    1/10 – இருமா
    1/16 – மாகாணி(வீசம்)
    1/20 – ஒருமா
    3/64 – முக்கால்வீசம்
    3/80 – முக்காணி
    1/32 – அரைவீசம்
    1/40 – அரைமா
    1/64 – கால் வீசம்
    1/80 – காணி
    3/320 – அரைக்காணி முந்திரி
    1/160 – அரைக்காணி
    1/320 – முந்திரி
    1/102400 – கீழ்முந்திரி
    1/2150400 – இம்மி
    1/23654400 – மும்மி
    1/165580800 – அணு –> ≈ 6,0393476E-9 –> ≈ nano = 0.000000001
    1/1490227200 – குணம்
    1/7451136000 – பந்தம்
    1/44706816000 – பாகம்
    1/312947712000 – விந்தம்
    1/5320111104000 – நாகவிந்தம்
    1/74481555456000 – சிந்தை
    1/489631109120000 – கதிர்முனை
    1/9585244364800000 – குரல்வளைப்படி
    1/575114661888000000 – வெள்ளம்
    1/57511466188800000000 – நுண்மணல்
    1/2323824530227200000000 – தேர்த்துகள்.

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  • Profile picture of trshash84 trshash84 said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

    Wonder if that was a detriment rather than an achievement. Or possibly both?

    We can represent all these using a common notation. Imagine if you had to
    learn hundreds of names for each denominator, and after that, you don’t
    have them all! Calculation becomes very difficult with specific names like
    this…

    Shash

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  • Profile picture of shankypriyan shankypriyan said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

    See – All people will not use all fractions.
     
    Gold smiths a few, Doctors and chemists a few. Metallurgist a few.
     
    We use the word – immi kooda kurayakkoodathu.
     
    Sidda medicines – anu alavu padarasam etc.
     
    Hence – specific numbers for specific people.
     

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  • Profile picture of trshash84 trshash84 said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

    I’m saying that the specific numbers would have held back progress…

    Much of science comes from people in different fields being able to
    communicate and explore commonalities in their different fields. Having
    special vocabularies for simple fractions would make life more difficult.

    Also, I’m sure traders, even farmers (sow this percentage of the land with
    crop X, put in such and such a fraction of a measure of manure, etc) would
    need fractions.

    Remember, for a *very* long time in history, people couldn’t perform a
    simple multiplication, because of the confusing number systems used. India
    has the distinction of having broken that particular deadlock with our
    number system.

    (shameless plug to my articles:

    http://mobilisinmobili.net/2011/07/1/number-games/

    http://mobilisinmobili.net/2011/11/10/value-nothing/ and
    http://mobilisinmobili.net/2011/12/5/value-nothing-2/ I talk about just
    this transition, though I didn’t address fractions)

    Shash

    On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 7:56 PM, sankaranarayanan k.s <

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  • Profile picture of satish_arun satish_arun said 3 weeks ago:

    May be not…our tradition was ‘sruthi, smrithi’….sound and relating a
    sound to a concept makes it easy to remember and relate.
    Our older generation used to multiply big numbers mentally, but our
    generation depends on calculator.

    I used to think I am smart, when i didnt read tables for my exams during
    schools and calculate it during exams. But today if I want to know what is
    16X15, I look for a calculator.

    So having a specific name for things makes it easy to remember and relate.

    How will you denote this in current system and make other understand what
    you are talking about??? 1/2323824530227200000000

    For our ancestors, it was simple..just one word. தேர்த்துகள் and both
    parties will know what they are talking about, without even writing it
    down.

    Vedas were never written down, till the europeans came in.
    Ganabadigal….would be able to recite the entire veda upside
    down..literally..but today..today while reciting any sloka if I forget one
    syllable, without the book I will not be able to proceed.

    my two pence…

    Used to remember an incident…when i was in the US. while in a queue at an
    eatery, an elderly person was before me and i think he had a bill of
    $10.61. He gave a 10$ and 1$ note and while the young lady was searching
    for change based on what her computer told her to give, this gentleman,
    wanting to help her, gave her 11cents, so that she can easily pick up 50c
    and return to him, instead of 39c.
    The lady got totally confused and did not know what to do. It delayed the
    process further and the old man was laughing like anything.

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  • Profile picture of ssampath108 ssampath108 said 3 weeks ago:

    We have lost all thousand year knowledge of weights and measures in one
    generation. Sombu, marakkal, palam and many more measures commonly used
    by vegetable vendors, grocery shops and oil mandis are all gone from use
    and from records. How the ‘illiterate’ (by our standards) traders did
    complex sums – mukkal moonu vesam and araiya araikal – and non decimal
    currency.
    I too had a similar experience. The cashier in a japanese business hotel
    did the calculations with an electronic calculator, and immediately
    cross checked it with abacus.
    sampath

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  • Profile picture of shankypriyan shankypriyan said 3 weeks ago:

    Dont worry – That is why we have abolished lower denomination coins.
    Now only 25P, 50 P and 1 Re. Soon it will be only Re1.

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  • Profile picture of christurajpaulraj christurajpaulraj said 2 weeks, 5 days ago:

    Hello Sir, It is mind boggling, indeed. Does anyone know where this was taken from? Were there any reference in any our litrature? -thanks

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  • Profile picture of veegopalji veegopalji said 2 weeks, 4 days ago:

    No sir, it was “forwarded” to me by friends and I shared it for our “learned” friends.
    I am a small fish in anocean of sharks !

    veegopalji

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