3blue1brownA Calculator for Balanced Ternary Arithmetic
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Tags: arithmeticbalancedternary
I made a balanced ternary calculator. You can use it to add, subtract, multiply and divide just like any other calculator, only it works with a different number system. This takes a little getting used to, but it opens up an interesting new perspective on arithmetic.
In particular, it provides an answer to the question: how do balanced number systems affect the way arithmetic works? When positive and negative numbers are on completely equal footing, does it still make sense to say that a negative times a negative equals a positive? The answer is: yes, it does - but it depends on the direction from which you approach it. This, along with other aspects of balanced ternary calculation, is explored in the ternary calculator. It’s a tool with a story to tell, and the story unfolds in the calculator’s info screen.
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Barely an explainer. You give two, three sentences for each concept, but you don’t actually explain anything.
Love this tool! Very well explained with clean presentation. As someone who’s never encountered this or any other balanced system before I didn’t feel overwhelmed picking up the basics. Maybe this just isn’t my field of interest, but I think more concrete motivation for the calculator might be nice on top of the higher level motivations like computing efficiency. Maybe an example or two of where you can learn to read off results faster than decimal or something like that. However, take that with a grain of salt since this topic might just not be my thing. It existing and functional could be plenty for many others. Additionally, what is your project bringing that the other online ternary calculators aren’t besides a nicer interface and notation? Pedagogically driven examples could give your project much more weight and unique usefulness.