Roman Numerals

 

 

 

 The odd thing about Roman Numerals is that to figure

out what the number is, there is some math involved.

And depending on where you put your symbols you could be adding or subtracting.

 

 

 

 

History

 

 

 Roman numerals are infact a number system.

And surprisingly, it comes from Rome. It was

used for roman arithmatic and the roman abacus.

 

 

 

 

Symbols

 

 

Before you deal with roman numerals,

you have to know that numbers are

represented by symbols

 

Symbol	Value
I	1
V	5
X	10
L	50
C	100
D	500
M	1000

 

 

These are the seven basic Roman Numerals

 

 No, the Romans didn't just use the numbers

1, 5, 10, 100, 500, and 1,000. These symbols

are just the starting blocks for different numbers.

 

To make a number that is between the seven basic ones you'll have to string some symbols together.

 

No, you can't put  I and V to make 6, that would make 4

 

When you put smaller values before larger values, you are subtracting.

When you put larger values before smaller values you are adding.

 

For large numbers (4000 and above), a bar is above a symbol to show you are multiplying by 1000

 

 

 

 

Examples

 

 

MDCLX

 

CM

 

LX

 

XXX

 

MDCLXXVIII

 

CDXXXII

 

 

 

 

You'll probably run into this one during the credits of your favorite TV show.

 

 

MMVII

 

 

 

 

 

Answer Key:

 

1,660 (1000+500+100+50+10)

 

900 (1000-100)

 

40 (50-10)

 

30 (10 +10 +10)

 

1678 (1000 + 500 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1)

 

432 (100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 +1 +1)

 

2007 (1000 + 1000 + 5 + 1 + 1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uses

 

Roman Numerals are thought to be something never seen today. But infact, they're still around.

 

• The year at the end of a television show or film.

 

• Some clocks show hours in Roman numerals.

 

• Names of monarchies are still in Roman numerals, like George VI. 

 

• Books (mostly older ones) are dated in Roman numerals. Volume numbers on spines can also be in Roman numerals. 

 

• The Super Bowl number is shown using Roman numerals.

 

 

 

Links

 

Need a quick conversion?

http://www.novaroma.org/via_romana/numbers.html

 

 

Some of my information came from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals