Main content
Early math review
Counting in order
Learn how to count without making mistakes.
Want to join the conversation?
Do we have to count from zero? Can we count from one?(51 votes)
It doesn't really matter now, but in later math classes you will count down from 0.(1 vote)
Why do we have numbers? And why do we need them?(30 votes)
Hey, TaeTae! Numbers were invented many centuries ago to help us better understand the world around us! Numbers help us to do any kind of math imaginable, and math is especially important to science, which helps us understand the world and the universe. It all circles back to numbers! Hope this helped :)(2 votes)
Can some people just Glace at a group of 10 or 15 items and count them instantaneously without having to count each individual item?(17 votes)
I just follow these steps.
-Check if number of items are even or odd.
-If odd, find the middlest(?) item and count the number of items after that.
-Use formula: total number of items = 2(items you counted) + 1
-If even, find the place where the middlest item would be and use same steps as odd numbers, except do not add 1
...
Man, my brain is weird.(3 votes)
Should we should start from zero or one?(11 votes)- If you start from nothing, then you would start from zero. Otherwise, start from one.(8 votes)
Why do we count in base 10?(13 votes)
Probably because we (usually) have 10 fingers. Also because it's a pretty good compromise between not having too many different digits to remember and keeping numbers relatively concise – e.g. for base 20 you'd need 20 symbols, and in base 2 fairly small numbers run really long very quickly.(11 votes)
How long do numbers really go and why are there so many numbers?(7 votes)
Numbers go on infinitely, but some people say infinity is the highest point for it to go. This is what I think about the infinite numbers: there are so many numbers because if one were to own so much of one thing, and the amount surpassed the ending number, how much would one own? Also, it doesn't make sense for it to just end. Then what would be after it? I hope this answers your question.(12 votes)
Why do they call it eleven instead of onety-one?(5 votes)
The Modern English eleven descends from Old English "endleofan", and
related forms in the various Germanic languages point back to an original
German compound word ainlif. Ainlif is composed of ain meaning one and the suffix lif(lifted straight from the German root lib) meaning "to adhere/remain/remain left over". So, Eleven means literally "one-left" (ie one past ten). Hence Eleven.(9 votes)
Is counting infinity possible?(4 votes)- Infinity is not a number, per se. It is the idea of the largest number. There is no actual "Largest number" as with any number, you can always add 1.(6 votes)
- i really want to know the history of the number zero?(4 votes)
- Zero was invented independently by the Babylonians, Mayans and Indians (although some researchers say the Indian number system was influenced by the Babylonians). The Babylonians got their number system from the Sumerians, the first people in the world to develop a counting system.
for further information: www.livescience.com/27853-who-invented-zero.html(9 votes)
- How do you count numbers that go over 10?(5 votes)
You count them by doing the same as you would with numbers below 10. Add +1. If you don't know anything above 10's, you'll need to learn those first.(7 votes)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] How do we count the flowers? So, this first choice,
they go one, two, three, and then they don't count
this one and then they skip it and they go four, five, six, and then they skip this one again, and then they say seven, eight. That's not how you count flowers! You'd say this is four, this is five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. So, this first choice is not right. Now, the second one looks better. One, two, three, four,
they didn't skip this one, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. That one looks good so
I'll click right over here and check my answer. How do we count the mice? Let's see, one, two, this
isn't the third mouse! This is the second mouse! This is crazy, this isn't right. All right, this one over here. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, this is right. Up here they skipped the number two, this should be the second
mouse, not the third mouse! All right. Let's keep going. Type the missing numbers. It says count the ladybugs. Type the missing numbers in the boxes. All right, this is ladybug number one. Two, then let me type three,
then let me type four. It's a lot of fun. Count the flowers. Type the missing numbers in the boxes. This is flower number
one, flower number two. Just gonna type that right in there. Check it, lemme do one more. How do we count the flowers? So, we saw one like this
a few questions ago. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. That one looks good. This one, just like the
last time, they skipped, actually they skipped the same ones. This wouldn't be the right way to do it. So, we select this one right
here, and then we're done.