Interactive Soroban Wizard

Soroban Math Wizard

What is the Soroban?

The Soroban is a traditional Japanese abacus used to teach mental arithmetic. It helps visualize numbers and significantly improves focus, memory, and calculation speed.

Upper Beads (Heaven): The single bead above the beam. When moved down, it is worth 5.
Lower Beads (Earth): The four beads below the beam. When moved up, each is worth 1.
Columns: Each column represents a place value. The rightmost column is Ones, the next is Tens, then Hundreds, and so on.

Total: 0

Small Friends of 5

1. Add 1 (4 + 1 = 5)

Note: Not enough lower beads. Add 5 (upper bead) and subtract 4.

2. Add 2 (3 + 2 = 5)

Note: To add 2, pull down the 5 bead and subtract 3.

3. Add 4 (4 + 4 = 8)

Note: Add 5 first, then subtract 1 lower bead.

Big Friends of 10

1. Add 9 (2 + 9 = 11)

Note: Not enough beads in Ones. Add 10 (Tens column) and subtract 1 from Ones.

2. Add 1 (9 + 1 = 10)

Note: Ones column is full (9). Add 10, and clear the 9.

3. Add 2 (8 + 2 = 10)

Note: Add 10 (Tens column) and subtract 8 from Ones.