Difference Between Abacus and Vedic Maths

In this post, I am going to cover all the differences between Abacus and Vedic Mathematics.

A lot of people remain confused between the abacus and Vedic maths, especially parents who wish their child to attend some maths activity.

Because there is not much content available on this topic they remain unaware of the key differences between these two. Here are the main differences between the abacus and Vedic maths.

Abacus vs Vedic Maths

Abacus is a counting frame that has rods and beads in it. It is being used since mankind felt the need for calculation in day to day life and for trading purposes.

It is still in widespread use in many parts of the world. In the age of calculators, computers, and now supercomputers, the abacus is not forgotten completely.

Abacus was invented in China and its Chinese name is “Suanpan”. It is used as a mental maths activity to enhance the concentration level of children.

Vedic Maths is a book written by an Indian monk Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaj which was first published in 1965.

This book explains the collection of sixteen (16) sutras or you can say 16 formulas of shortcut tricks of mathematics.

Abacus is a brain development program or activity that develops the brain of a child while Vedic maths has nothing to do with brain development.

The main purpose of abacus activity is to develop the brain of a child while Vedic maths purpose is to improve calculations.

Both have one thing in common that is making maths fun learning which is why both are gaining popularity each day. Both activities remove phobia/fear of mathematics in children.

Let us now talk about the age group.

The right age of learning abacus is 5 to 14 years as this age group is considered one of the best age to join abacus classes whereas Vedic maths classes are more likely to be joined 12 years onward.

School studies and syllabus do not get affected if one follows this age criterion in order to join abacus or Vedic maths classes.

It would rather help in overall studies.

Concentration building is also one of the most important benefits of abacus learning which helps in the overall development of a child.

Abacus is also known as a concentration improvement course. Vedic maths is not a concentration building program but a calculation improvement program. The biggest calculations are solved in a matter of a few seconds.

Basic arithmetic operations such as addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (x) and division (÷) are performed in abacus whereas, in Vedic maths addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, cubes, square roots, cube roots, and other higher calculation are also covered.

Abacus tool is required to perform calculations in abacus while in Vedic maths there is no such tool needed but pen and paper are required.

With regular abacus tool practice, calculations can be solved mentally without using pen and paper.

In Vedic maths, a few tricks can be done mentally but higher calculations are needed pen and paper.

Abacus is a mental maths program because, after the regular abacus tool practice, the abacus tool is no longer required to perform calculations as a child can visualize the abacus tool in his mind and calculate sums mentally. Vedic Maths is not pure mental maths but conditional maths. Once you satisfy a condition (apply sutra/formula) thereafter you can quickly solve long calculations.

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1 thought on “Difference Between Abacus and Vedic Maths”

  1. Sir I have completed abacus level 5. And I found it very easy after learning it from you. I want 6th level. But I didn’t get vdo related to it

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