answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

The main reason is that 60 is divisible by many smaller numbers, for example, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10. Consequently, calculating a quarter or a third is easy. By contrast, our decimal system is based on a number (10) whose only proper factors are 2 and 5.

User Avatar

Wiki User

βˆ™ 9y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: Why was base 60 used in babylonian numbers?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

What do the babylonian fraction table look like?

Babylonian number system is base on 60 and the cuneiform written system made harder to express math than the system we now use. In the related links box below I posted a site so you could see this.


Have 60 as there base number?

Because there was no symbol for zero in Sumerian or early Babylonian ... Base-60 number systems have also been used in some other cultures.


What is the difference between Babylonian numerals and Hindu Arabic numerals?

Babylonian numerals have a base of 60 while the Hindu-Arabic numerals have a base of 10


What is the difference between Hindu-Arabic and Babylonian number systems?

Hindu-Arabic is our current number system while Babylonian numbers are an ancient number system which uses base 60 and uses only two symbols.


How do you write 78 in babylonian?

Babylonian used the sexadecimal system which has 60 as the base number but they also wrote the number in the cuneiform writing system wich I posted it in the related links below.


When was the babylonian number system created?

This base 60 number system was used in 1800b.c


Why do the babylonians have 60 as there base number?

Babylonian numerals were written in cuneiform, using a wedge-tipped reed ... used a sexagesimal (base-60) positional numeral system inherited from the ... The Babylonians did not technically have a digit for, nor a concept of, the number.


How was the babylonian number system used?

Babylonian numerals were written in cuneiform, using a wedge-tipped reed stylus to make a mark on a soft clay tablet which would be exposed in the sun to harden to create a permanent record. Sexagesimal (base 60) is a numeral system with sixty as its base. The number 60, a highly composite number, has twelve factors, namely {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60}, of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers.


How is Babylon numbers used in everyday life?

The Babylonian number system was sexagesimal, that is, based on 60. It is when hours or degrees (angular measures) are divided into minutes and seconds.


What is the longest Babylonian number between 500 and 1000?

Instead of or powers of 10, the Babylobians used powers of 60. So Babylonian 10 is decimal 60, and Babylonian 100 is decimal 3600. Decimal 1000 is 16x60 +40 =Babylonian (16)(40)


What base of the system and why was this base used babylonia?

60. This was used because it is divisible by many numbers - unlike 10 which is evenly divisible only by 2 and 5.


How do you write 72 in babylonian numerals?

To convert to a new base: 1. divide the number by the new base to get a whole quotient and a remainder; 2. note the remainder 3. replace the number by the quotient 4. if the number is not zero repeat from step 1. 5. the remainders in reverse order is the number in the new base. Babylonian numbers are written using base 60, thus: 72 ÷ 60 = 1 r 12 1 × 60 = 0 r 1 → 72 in base 60 is 1 : 12 The Babylonians would write this as 1 one-wedge followed (after a small gap) by 1 ten-wedge with 2 one-wedges (these 3 wedges grouped together).