Why do people use roman numerals

FumbleFingers: Technically, the placement rules for the copyright notice didn't change by the act itself the edition of The Compendium of Copyright Office Practices states "The law does not specify where a notice should be placed on a motion picture film, but the Office will recommend that the notice appear on or near the title frame. When I started writing my own copyrighted software in the mid's the advice to me was that I didn't need to display anything at all to the user, nor to formally register my copyright as such.

Just that it would be easier to pursue a claim for infringement later if I did embed the details somewhere in the product. FumbleFingers - In my opinion, Roman numerals are still used only for graphic design project reason. Did you ever think to that? Show 2 more comments. As Wikipedia notes: Classical numbering is often used to suggest importance or timelessness, or in other cases where an alternate numbering system is useful for clarity.

Robusto Robusto k 37 37 gold badges silver badges bronze badges. I don't think this answers the actual question: why HaL: I took "why" to mean "for what reason? Not the teleological why.

I understand what they're used for, I'm still not clear why they suggest 'importance or timelessness' — Ambo Ambo They suggest that because they are an older form of writing numbers, and therefore lend the dignity of age. I have heard it suggested that films use them because they are harder to read, so the age of the film will be less obviously apparent.

I am a little sceptical of these, though. Show 1 more comment. They are used for the preliminary pages of book before the main page numbering gets under way. Sporting events are often numbered using Roman numerals. Monarchs are usually numbered in Roman This form is also sometimes seen in naming eldest sons in American families where successive generations bear the same first name. They are found in numbering paragraphs in complex documents to clarify which are main sections.

Roman numerals can be seen on public buildings, monuments and gravestones, sometimes when the inscription is in Latin but often just to give the date a certain gravity. They are an additive and subtractive system in which letters are used to denote certain "base" numbers, and arbitrary numbers are then denoted using combinations of symbols.

Roman numerals use letters to represent values. Gigili Gigili 5, 16 16 gold badges 40 40 silver badges 75 75 bronze badges. I understand that, but the examples provided weren't necessary as I had researched that before hand. Ambo Just skip them, I wrote them to make my answer more complete. Do you have any references for the law requirement and the makers' wish? Hugo - the BBC's requirements for programs bbc.

I have voted this up as I think it was a shame it has a negative vote given that there are numerous places on the internet from big names such as BBC that support this theory.

No links as they age badly the one identified in an earlier comment shows I think people need to google a bit more before voting down. Tim Lymington Tim Lymington Here the only reason I see is graphical-design reasons. A clock with Roman numerals can be more beatifull than another which do not have them. However, I do apreciate your answer based on logical arguments. Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile.

Related Hot Network Questions. Accept all cookies Customize settings. To write Roman numerals, we use seven letters of the alphabet. The table below illustrates the value for each of these numerals. Roman numerals are arranged and combined in a specific order to represent numbers. However, one cannot put more than three of the same numerals together. Instead, four is indicated with IV. If a letter with a smaller value is placed before a letter with a larger value, one subtracts the smaller from the larger.

It works the same way if a smaller number comes after a larger number, only one adds to it. The following list of 50 Roman numerals will help you learn how they are created. Sometimes, using a different writing method can be tricky and you won't always remember which Roman numeral you need to use. As long as you understand the explanations above and recollect the simple overview in the table, with some practice, you'll master the Roman numerals in no time. One additional method to anchor these different types of numbers in your memory is to use a mnemonic and put the letters into a more memorable sentence.

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