THE ROMAN NUMERALS

HELLO, WELCOME BACK TO CLASS

 

Roman numerals use seven letters: I, V, X, L, C, D and M to represent the numbers 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000. These seven letters make up thousands of numbers. Romans Numerals are based on the following symbols:

1 5 10 50 100 500 1000
I V X L C D M

Basic Combinations

Which can be combined like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
 
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
X XX XXX XL L LX LXX LXXX XC
 
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
C CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM

Forming Numbers – The Rules

When a symbol appears after a larger (or equal) symbol it is added

  • Example: VI = V + I = 5 + 1 = 6
  • Example: LXX = L + X + X = 50 + 10 + 10 = 70

But if the symbol appears before a larger symbol it is subtracted

  • Example: IV = V − I = 5 − 1 = 4
  • Example: IX = X − I = 10 − 1 = 9

To Remember: After Larger is Added

Don’t use the same symbol more than three times in a row (but IIII is sometimes used for 4, particularly on clocks)

 

 

How to Convert to Roman Numerals

Break the number into Thousands, Hundreds, Tens and Ones, and write down each in turn

Example: Convert 1984 to Roman Numerals.

M

Break 1984 into 1000, 900, 80 and 4, then do each conversion

  • 1000 = M
  • 900 = CM
  • 80 = LXXX
  • 4 = IV

1000 + 900 + 80 + 4 = 1984, so 1984 = MCMLXXXIV

How To Remember

Think “MeDiCaL XaVIer”.
It has the roman numerals in descending order from 1000 to 1.

I, for one, like Roman numerals!

 

Really Big Numbers

Numbers greater than 1,000 are formed by placing a dash over the symbol, meaning “times 1,000”, but these are not commonly used:

5,000 10,000 50,000 100,000 500,000 1,000,000
V X L C D M

 

i-1                    vi-6                  xi-11                xvi-16 xxiv-24           L-50         cc-200

ii-2                   vii-7                 xii-12               xvii-17 xxix-29            Lv-55      ccc-300

iii-3                  viii-8                xiii-13  xviii-18            xxxix-39          xc-90      CD-400

iv-4                  ix-9                  xiv-14 xix-19  xL-40         xcvi-96      CDXL-440

v-5                  x-10                xv-15              xx-20              xLv-45 c-100    CDL-450

D-500         DCC-700          CM-900           M-1000             MMM-3000

IV-4000           IVD-4500          V-5000           VM-6000              X-10000

L-5000                 C-100000           D-500000                    M-1000000

Application of Roman figures

LXX +MC =MCLXX

CCCIX +DIV = DCCCXIII

MCMXCIX + DI = MMD

XXXII – XIX = XIII

MC –III = MXCVII

CCC × X = MMM

XXV × XXV = DCXXV

CCCLXXV ÷ V = LXXV

MM ÷ XL = L

For more class notes, homework help, exam practice, download our App HERE

Join ClassNotes.ng Telegram Community for exclusive content and support HERE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Don`t copy text!