>>9946219so if 17 equals to 3 bars and 2 dots,
how come the notation "17" and "12" below it equals to "17(20) + 12" and not "(3(5) + 2) + (2(5) +2)"?
sorry i'm literally reading the book "Basic Math and Pre-Algebra For Dummies" and i wanted to read a little more in depth about the history of numbers and math so i picked up another book on that subject and well i didn't get too far, this example is from the second page.
