The Abacus.
Arithmetical calculations.
Abacus is an instrument used for calculating. It begins with the letter a.
The word you're looking for is... Abacus.
abacus
the abacus. http://condor.depaul.edu/~sjost/isp121/documents/abacus.gif
The abacus is a mathemetical instrument used to calculate. It can do anything from addition ,maltiplicaiton, division, subtraction to calculating fractions. It is an ancient Chinese instrument used in shops for billing. Today there are many classes to teach children about the abacus and how it functions. Many adults too have found their intrests lying here and decide to work on this for their career. There are international, national, state, district, city, institution level competitions in which about a thousand student will participate. Believe me it is great fun.
China invented the abacus .
An abacus is used as a tool to train children how to perform complex mathematical operations quickly and efficiently. One of the advantages of an abacus is that it gives a color coded physical representation of a number system. This allows a student proficient with an abacus to eventually start performing mathematical operations in his/her head as they can visualize how the abacus would look if they were to perform the operation physically. The abacus has another positive use as it is a good teaching tool to help blind students learn math.It is significant because it was the precursor to the modern calculator. It is a portable device that can be carried on person to perform mathematical operations without the need for a writing instrument or paper.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus
ABACUS
How did the abacus occur?
An Abacus has beads and strings.