The Cultural Life of Numbers

Education · 10 questions

No arithmetic: where our numbers came from and why they look like that.

Answer each question first, then check with “Show the answer”. You can also play the same quiz in the Quizera app by searching for it in Explore, as a live game, a test or flashcards.

1. What are the digits we use today usually called?

   1. Roman numerals
   2. Hindu-Arabic numerals
   3. Greek numerals
   4. Latin numerals
   Show the answer

   B) Hindu-Arabic numerals

2. What made calculation with Roman numerals so awkward?

   1. Too few letters to work with
   2. No known multiplication tables
   3. No place value and no zero
   4. Writing material was too costly
   Show the answer

   C) No place value and no zero

3. Where was zero first systematised as a number in its own right?

   1. India
   2. Egypt
   3. Rome
   4. Greece
   Show the answer

   A) India

4. Why do computers work in binary?

   1. Binary arithmetic is easier for people
   2. It saves storage space
   3. It is a historical accident
   4. A circuit has two states, on and off
   Show the answer

   D) A circuit has two states, on and off

5. What is the practical reason a dozen is twelve?

   1. There are twelve months in a year
   2. Twelve has an unusual number of divisors
   3. We have twelve knuckles per hand
   4. It is purely arbitrary
   Show the answer

   B) Twelve has an unusual number of divisors

6. What is the most likely reason the decimal system spread?

   1. The cycle of the Moon
   2. Early trading regulations
   3. The number of fingers we have
   4. Astronomical calculations
   Show the answer

   C) The number of fingers we have

7. What did Fibonacci introduce to Europe?

   1. The logarithm table
   2. The quadratic equation
   3. The decimal point
   4. The Hindu-Arabic number system
   Show the answer

   D) The Hindu-Arabic number system

8. Some languages count using a base-20 system.

   1. True
   2. False
   Show the answer

   A) True

9. Roman numerals include a symbol for zero.

   1. True
   2. False
   Show the answer

   B) False

10. In some countries the word 'billion' refers to a different quantity.

    1. True
    2. False
    Show the answer

    A) True