IN modern world Arabic numerals are considered a generally accepted standard of calculation. The decimal system is used for counting and numbering in all developed countries of the world. At the same time, Roman numerals, which were used in the non-positional number system of the ancient Romans, were not completely abandoned. You can often see that they are used to number sections in books, mark centuries in historical literature, blood type and many other parameters are indicated for which designation in Roman numerals has become standard.
When working on a computer with a browser, text editors, and other applications, you may need to enter some values in Roman numerals. There is no separate digital block with them on standard device input, but there are several ways to quickly write Roman numerals on the keyboard.
Roman numerals on the keyboard in any application
Only a small number of application developers provide convenient ways to enter Roman numerals using the keyboard in their products. Most programs do not have special functionality for working with a non-positional number system, which requires the user to be smart enough to enter Roman numerals into them. There are two convenient ways, how to enter Roman numerals from the keyboard in any program.
Replacing Roman numerals with English letters
On any computer, by default one of the available languages is English. You can quickly switch to it using the key combination Alt+Shift or Windows+Space (in Windows 10). The English alphabet completely eliminates the need for a separate numeric keypad for entering Roman numerals, since all their analogues can be typed using it in capital letters.
Next letters English alphabet replace Roman numerals:
- 1 – I;
- 5 – V;
- 10 – X;
- 50 – L;
- 100 – C;
- 500 – D;
- 1000 – M.
Even at school, they teach how to use Roman numerals to enter various numbers. The principle is simple: the largest Roman numerals suitable for the given situation are used to get to the required number.
For example:
To enter the number 33, you will need to use 10+10+10+1+1+1.
Accordingly, in the Roman variation the number 33 would be written as follows: XXXIII.
There are also some special rules for entering Roman numerals that allow you to shorten the writing of large numbers.
Using ASCII codes to enter Roman numerals
In the operating room Windows system ASCII codes are supported for entering various characters. They can be used, among other things, to enter Roman numerals.
ASCII is an American encoding table that lists the most popular printable and non-printable characters in numerical combinations. To use the characters from this table on a standard keyboard to enter Roman numerals, you must use the NUM number block - located on the right side of the keyboard.
Activate the additional numeric keypad using the Num Lock button. After that, hold down the left ALT on the keyboard and enter combinations of Roman numerals on the right number pad. After entering each character, you need to release ALT so that the character appears in the input field. Then again you need to hold down ALT and you can enter the next character.
The following combinations of the additional number block are identical to Roman numerals:
- ALT+73 – I;
- ALT+86 – V;
- ALT+88 – X;
- ALT+76 – L;
- ALT+67 – C;
- ALT+68 – D;
- ALT+77 – M.
The method of entering Roman numerals using ASCII codes cannot be called convenient, but it can be used, for example, when for one reason or another the English keyboard layout is disabled.
How to Type Roman Numerals in Word
Microsoft, when developing the office suite and Word application, took into account that users who work with texts may need to enter Roman numerals. Since doing this using the English layout or ASCII codes is not particularly convenient, Microsoft has introduced support in Word special team, which automatically converts Arabic numerals to Roman numerals.
How to read Roman numerals?We don't use Roman numerals often. And everyone seems to know that we traditionally use Roman numerals to denote centuries, and years and exact dates- Arabic numerals. Just the other day I had to explain to Arab :-)) and Chinese students what, for example, XCIV or CCLXXVIII :-)) is. I learned a lot of interesting things for myself when I was looking for material. I’m sharing :-)) Maybe someone else will need it :-))
Roman numerals
Roman numerals are special characters used to write decimal places and their halves. To denote numbers, 7 letters of the Latin alphabet are used:
Roman Numeral Number
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
M 1000
Natural numbers are written by repeating these 7 Roman numerals.
Mnemonic rule for memorization letter designations Roman numerals in descending order (author of the rule - A. Kasperovich):
M s
D we eat
C tips
L look
X ok
V well-mannered
I to individuals
Rules for writing numbers in Roman numerals:
If big number stands in front of the smaller one, then they add up (addition principle),
- if a smaller number comes before a larger one, then the smaller one is subtracted from the larger one (subtraction principle).
The second rule is used to avoid repeating the same number four times. Thus, Roman numerals I, X, C are placed respectively before X, C, M to indicate 9, 90, 900 or before V, L, D to indicate 4, 40, 400.
VI = 5+1 = 6,
IV = 5 - 1 = 4 (instead of IIII),
XIX = 10 + 10 - 1 = 19 (instead of XVIIII),
XL = 50 - 10 =40 (instead of XXXX),
XXXIII = 10 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 33, etc.
It should be noted that even arithmetic operations dealing with multi-digit numbers in this entry is very inconvenient. Probably, the complexity of calculations in the Roman numbering system, based on the use of Latin letters, was one of the compelling reasons for replacing it with a more convenient decimal system of numbers.
The Roman numbering system, which dominated Europe for two thousand years, is now in very limited use. Roman numerals are used to indicate centuries (XII century), months when indicating the date on monuments (21.V.1987), time on watch dials, ordinal numbers, derivatives of small orders.
Additional Information:
To correctly write large numbers in Roman numerals, you must first write the number of thousands, then hundreds, then tens, and finally units.
Example : number 1988. One thousand M, nine hundred CM, eighty LXXX, eight VIII. Let's write them down together: MCMLXXXVIII.
Quite often, to highlight numbers in the text, a line was drawn over them: LXIV. Sometimes a line was drawn both above and below: XXXII - in particular, this is how it is customary to highlight Roman numerals in Russian handwritten text (this is not used in typesetting due to technical complexity). For other authors, the overbar could indicate an increase in the value of the figure by 1000 times: VM = 6000.
Tissot watch with the traditional “IIII” spelling
Exists "shortcut" to write large numbers such as 1999. It Not recommended, but sometimes used for simplicity. The difference is that to reduce a digit, any digit can be written to the left of it:
999. Thousand (M), subtract 1 (I), we get 999 (IM) instead of CMXCIX. Consequence: 1999 - MIM instead of MCMXCIX
95. One hundred (C), subtract 5 (V), get 95 (VC) instead of XCV
1950: Thousand (M), subtract 50 (L), get 950 (LM). Consequence: 1950 - MLM instead of MCML
This method is widely used by Western film companies when writing the year of release of a film in the credits.
It was only in the 19th century that the number “four” was written down as “IV”; before that, the number “IIII” was most often used. However, the entry “IV” can already be found in the documents of the Forme of Cury manuscript dating back to 1390. Watch dials have traditionally used "IIII" instead of "IV" in most cases, mainly for aesthetic reasons: this spelling provides visual symmetry with the "VIII" numerals on the opposite side, and an inverted "IV" is more difficult to read than "IIII".
Another version.
There are seven basic numbers used to write integers in Roman numeration:
I = 1
V=5
X = 10
L=50
C=100
D = 500
M = 1000
In this case, some of the numbers (I, X, C, M) may repeat, but no more than three times, thus, they can be used to write any integer up to 3999 (MMMCMXCIX). When writing numbers in the Roman numeral system, the smaller digit may appear to the right of the larger one; in this case it is added to it. For example, the number 283 in Roman is written like this:
i.e. 200+50+30+3=283. Here the figure representing a hundred is repeated twice, and the figures representing ten and one, respectively, are repeated three times.
The smaller number can be written to the left of the larger one, then it should be subtracted from the larger one. In this case, repetitions of a smaller number are not allowed. Let's write the number 94 in Roman:
XCIV=100-10+5-1=94.
This is the so called "subtraction rule": it appeared in late antiquity (before that, the Romans wrote the number 4 as IIII, and the number 40 as XXXX). There are six ways to use the "subtraction rule":
IV = 4
IX = 9
XL=40
XC = 90
CD = 400
CM = 900
It should be noted that other methods of "subtraction" are not acceptable; thus, the number 99 should be written as XCIX, but not as IC. However, nowadays in some cases a simplified notation of Roman numerals is used: for example, in the program Microsoft Excel When converting Arabic numerals to Roman numerals using the "ROMAN()" function, you can use several types of number representation, from classical to highly simplified (for example, the number 499 can be written as CDXCIX, LDVLIV, XDIX, VDIV or ID).
From here it is clear that in order to avoid 4-fold repetition, the maximum possible number here is 3999, i.e. MMMIM
Large numbers can also be written using Roman numerals. To do this, a line is placed over those numbers that denote thousands, and a double line is placed over those numbers that denote millions. For example, the number 123123 would look like this:
_____
CXXIIICXXIII
And a million is like Ī, but with not one, but two features at the head.
Examples of writing numbers in Roman and Arabic numerals
Roman numerals Arabic numerals
I 1 unus
II 2 duo
III 3 tres
IV 4 quattuor
V 5 quinque
VI 6 sex
VII 7 september
VIII 8 octo
IX 9 November
X 10 December
XI 11 undecim
XII 12 duodecim
XIII 13 tredecim
XIV 14 quattuordecim
XV 15 quindecim
XVI 16 sedecim
XVII 17 september
XVIII 18 duodeviginti
XIX 19 undeviginti
XX 20 viginti
XXI 21 unus et viginti
XXX 30 triginta
XL 40 quadraginta
L 50 quinquaginta
LX 60 sexaginta
LXX 70 septuaginta
LXXX 80 octoginta
XC 90 nonaginta
C 100 centum
CC 200 centi
CCC 300 trecenti
CD 400 quadringenti
D 500 quingenti
DC 600 sescenti
DCC 700 septingenti
DCCC 800 octingenti
CM 900 nongenti
M 1000 mille
MM 2000 duo milia
MMM 3000
MMMIM(largest number) 3999
Additional examples:
XXXI 31
XLVI 46
XCIX 99
DLXXXIII 583
DCCCLXXXVIII 888
MDCLXVIII 1668
MCMLXXXIX 1989
MMIX 2009
MMXI 2011
Today in Russia, Roman numerals are needed, first of all, to record the number of the century or millennium. It is convenient to place Roman numerals next to Arabic ones - if you write the century in Roman numerals, and then the year in Arabic, then your eyes will not be dazzled by the abundance of identical signs. Roman numerals have a certain connotation of archaism. They are also traditionally used to designate serial number monarch (Peter I), volume number of a multi-volume publication, sometimes a chapter of a book. Roman numerals are also used in antique watch dials. Important numbers, such as the year of the Olympiad or the number of a scientific law, can also be recorded using Roman numerals: World War II, Euclid's V postulate.
IN different countries Roman numerals are used slightly differently: in the USSR it was customary to indicate the month of the year using them (1.XI.65). In the West, the year number is often written in Roman numerals in the credits of films or on the facades of buildings.
In parts of Europe, especially in Lithuania, you can often find the days of the week designated in Roman numerals (I – Monday, and so on). In Holland, Roman numerals are sometimes used to denote floors. And in Italy they mark 100-meter sections of the route, marking, at the same time, every kilometer with Arabic numerals.
In Russia, when writing by hand, it is customary to emphasize the Roman numerals below and above at the same time. However, often in other countries, the underscore meant increasing the case of the number by 1000 times (or 10,000 times with a double underscore).
There is a common misconception that modern Western clothing sizes have some connection with Roman numerals. In fact, the designations are XXL, S, M, L, etc. have no connection with them: these are abbreviations English words eXtra (very), Small (small), Large (large).