From ancient times to modern bar codes

Introduction to the week.

1.

2.1

Introduction to symbologies video (01:28)

Ancient Egyptian number systems

In this activity, we will explore some ancient number systems, including Egyptian Hieroglyphs,
Roman Numerals and Greek Numerals.

1.

2.2

Ancient Egyptian Symbologies article

2.

2.3

How good are you at decrypting Egyptian numbers? quiz

3.

2.4

Questions, anyone? discussion

4.

2.5

Egyptian multiplication video (09:47)



Roman and Greek numerals

Let's move to Europe! The Romans and the Greeks also used 'rods' for their units symbol. Later
on, this became the letter I. Other letters depicted 5, 10, 50, 100, etc. In this activity we will take
a look at these number systems.

1.

2.6

Roman Numerals and their different interpretations article

2.

2.7

Greek numerals article

3.

2.8

Ancient number systems quiz

4.

2.9

Questions, anyone? discussion

5.

2.10

The Mayan number system video (04:31)

6.

2.11
 Mayan arithmetic video (03:07)

7.

2.12

Try and solve the ancient numeral part of the course challenge video (00:55)

8.

2.13

Solution to ancient numeral part of the course challenge. video (00:59)

The language of computers

In this activity we will take a look at modern symbologies. Most of these (but not all) are based
at their core on binary codes. Numbers are represented by strings of 'bits' using only the numbers
0 and 1.

1.

2.14

Binary codes article

2.

2.15

Ternary codes quiz

3.

2.16

Questions, anyone? discussion

4.
 2.17

What are Gray codes? video (09:14)

5.

2.18

Try and solve the computer symbology part of the course challenge video (00:40)

6.

2.19

The solution to the computer symbology part of course challenge video (01:39)

Bar codes, ISBN and checksum digits

Binary codes are great for getting computers to understand numbers. Lasers that read bar codes,
that are really encoded bits, are an excellent way to input numbers into the computers. This is
what this activity is all about.

1.

2.20

What are Barcodes? article

2.

2.21

ISBNs and checksum digits article

3.

2.22

2 and 3 Dimensional Barcodes article

 4.

2.23

Bar code problems quiz

5.

2.24

Questions, anyone? discussion

6.

2.25

Barcode alien challenge video (01:03)

7.

2.26

Solution to barcode section of the alien challenge video (01:09)

Week wrapup

This is a summary of this week's topics.

1.

2.27

Week wrap-up test

2.

2.28

Questions, anyone? discussion

 3.

2.29

Week summary discussion

Introduction to symbologies
We will be looking at symbologies in a minute, but perhaps you already have some questions? If
so, you can discuss this with us in the discussion below!

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

Ancient Egyptian Symbologies

Introduction

The term symbology is used to describe a system in which different symbols or signs are used to
represent information be it letters, numbers, words or instructions. Mankind has always used
different symbologies. There are many examples: Roman numerals, Egyptian hieroglyphs,
Braille, Morse code, and in the modern world barcodes and different computer codes. There is
a lot of resemblance between symbology and cryptography (secret writing), but there is also one
main difference. In cryptography, the goal is to hide information from people that are not
authorized. In symbology, the goal is to represent the information in an efficient and convenient
manner.

Numbers in the ancient world

People have always needed to count things. Before numbers were written the way they are today,
other methods were used. The simplest method was to use rods or draw lines to represent
different amounts. For example, if a merchant in the market was faced with two groups of wine
barrels, one group with three barrels, and the other group with six, he had to calculate the total
sum and it would have been written using pictures of rods.

With time, different cultures developed different symbols to represent numbers. As early as 5000
years ago, the ancient Egyptians carved in stone their pictorial symbology, hieroglyphs, to
communicate ideas and to write words and numbers. Each drawing or symbol had several
interpretations depending on the context. One meaning could be simply the object depicted in the
drawing. The drawing gets a completely different meaning altogether when combined with
another one. In that case, the combination of the two symbols would express the meaning. Lets
demonstrate this principle in English. A drawing of a star might mean: star, but the shape of a
star together with a rock, could mean rock star, as in Lady Gaga. Hieroglyphs were mostly
carved in stone.

There were pictures for numbers. A rod for the number one, an ox strap for the number ten, a coil
of rope for one hundred, a lotus plant for a thousand and so on. Here is a chart of Hieroglyphic
numbers:
Although positional notation was already in use thousands of years ago by the Babylonians
(except for the use of zero), it was not used by the Egyptians. So, the hieroglyphic number 2 was
the drawing of two rods, and the hieroglyphic number 5072 was depicted by engraving 5 lotus
plant, seven ox straps and two rods. In principle, there is no need to write the symbols in any
specific order, since the position had no meaning, but hieroglyphic numbers were usually written
with symbols of larger numbers to the left, or on top of the smaller ones. Here is the Egyptian
symbol for the number: 4622, one of the numbers carved on the walls of the temple in Karnak
(Thibes), Egypt.

The Egyptians also used a more popular writing symbology, hieratic script, which was kind of a
shorthand of hieroglyphics. The famous Rhind papyrus, depicted in the image above and kept in
the British Museum in London, from which we know a lot about Egyptian mathematics, was
written in Hieratic script. It is named after the Scottish archeologist, Alexander Henry Rhind,
who found it, and was written in ink on papyrus (like nearly all hieratic scripts) by an Egyptian
scribe called Ahmes. The Rhind papyrus tells us a lot about how the Egyptians performed many
of their mathematical calculations. It includes every day calculation problems of many kinds:
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It also reveals a basic awareness of some
complicated math, such as composite and prime numbers, several types of means, and perfect
numbers. One of the most intriguing features of ancient Egyptian math is the way they treated
fractions.

Egyptian fractions

One interesting hieroglyph used by the Egyptians in the context of numbers is a picture of an
eye. An eye above a number indicates what part it is from the whole number. An eye above the
number 3, for example, indicates that this is the third part of the whole number, i.e. the fraction
one third (1/3). So, this hieroglyph turns the number into its inverse. One might think that the
eye simply represents fractions, but there is a significant difference between Egyptian fractions
and the fractions that we use today. While nowadays we write fractions like 2/5 or 3/5, where the
numerator can be any number, in Egyptian fractions the numerator is always 1: , , etc. These
fractions are known as unit fractions. But if the Egyptians only used unit fractions, how did
they write fractions like 3/4 or 7/12? These fractions were written as sums of fractions, each
one different from the other. For example, the fraction 3/4 can be written as 1/2+1/4. If we were
asked today what is 1/3 + 1/4? - we would write: 7/12, but the Egyptians would just leave it as
1/3+1/4. One notes in passing that the Egyptians had one exception to the rule - the fraction 2/3.

Why did the Egyptians use only unit fractions? There have been a few speculations, but here is
one which seems to me a good guess. Look at the following problem for example: In a pizzeria,
the vendor has to divide 5 pizza trays between 8 people equally, how can he do this?

In todays mathematical language we could say that each of them has to get 5/8 of the pizzas.
The vendor would have to divide each tray into eight portions so that everyone gets one piece
from every tray. This would create a lot of work for the vendor. Alternatively, he could give one
person 5/8 of one pizza, the second the remaining 3/8 and another 2/8 from the second pizza,
the third person would get 5/8 etc.
Another option is to write 5/8 as an Egyptian fraction: 1/2+1/8 = 5/8. In this case, the vendor
could take 4 pizzas and cut each one of them into half so everyone gets half a pizza, while only
the last pizza he would have to cut into eight slices so that everyone gets an additional eighth.

Not only does the Egyptian method result in a small number of slices for each person, it is also
perceived by them to be fairer. Everyone will get two pieces of pizza, one the size of a half and
the other the size of an eighth, instead of some getting one piece (5/8) and others two (3/8 + 2/8).

Mathematicians are still intrigued by Egyptian fractions today, and there is much still to be
discovered.

Interested in learning more about Egyptian symbologies?

Click here for a brief introduction to Egyptian scripts - and then mark this step as complete and
press next to see how well you can decipher Egyptian numerals.

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

Egyptian multiplication
The Rhind papyrus teaches us a lot about how the Egyptians thought about the different math
operations. There wasnt a simple known way to multiply numbers. In fact, multiplication was
seen to be a form of addition. Watch this video to see the principles behind Egyptian
multiplication and on the way Ill show you a cheat to multiply numbers by 11.

Do you know any other ways to multiply numbers? Click Here for BBC Fours exploration into
Ethiopian multiplication. Please share your ideas about multiplication methods in the discussion
below!

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science
Roman Numerals and their different
interpretations
The ancient Romans had their own method of writing numbers. The symbols: I, V, X, L, C, D, M
represented the numbers: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000. For example, the number 157 is written
CLVII in Roman numerals. The numbers are written from left to right in descending order M > D
> C > L > V > I.

These symbols originated thousands of years ago. It is conjectured that they all stem from the
basic notion of using a straight line, a stick or a rod to symbolise one unit, just like the
Egyptians. The Romans used a decimal system, grouped into multiples of 5, presumably due to
the fact that we have five fingers on each hand. Not all civilisations used this as a base. The
Babylonians used base 60 and the South America civilisations used other base systems. Grouping
together five rods, using the fifth rod on a slant to help keep count, might have been the origin
for the symbol V for the number 5. Two Vs one turned upside down and placed directly below
the other (correctly oriented) V might have been the origin for the number tens X symbol. The
use of Roman numerals was widespread in the Middle Ages, and they still appear on many
buildings and structures, like Admiralty Arch in London.

Shorter notation
When working with large numbers, the number became very long. At some stage, people started
to invent methods to shorten the number and save space. The common way was to write certain
numbers using subtraction. For example, the number 4 was written IV instead of IIII. The
meaning of the symbol IV is V-1 (5-1). In other words, when there are two symbols, and the one
with the lower value is written to the left of the other one, this implies that the lower number
should be subtracted from the higher number.

Very soon, people started competing who could write Roman numerals in the shortest way. The
number 40 is written XL (two symbols) instead of XXXX (four symbols), the number 44 is
written XLIV (four symbols) instead of XXXXIIII (eight symbols).

In the Middle Ages there were sometimes confusing rules regarding which cases it is allowed to
use subtraction. The common custom was to precede I to V or X, X to L or C, and C to D or M
each symbol only once. For example, XLIV (44) is legal, but IIX (8) is illegal. However, not
everyone abided to the rules. The date engraved on Admiralty Arch in the image above, for
example, can be shortened (how?).

Math with Roman numerals

It is possible to perform mathematical operations with Roman numerals without translating them
into decimal numbers. There are a few rules to do this. The simplest rule is how to add two
numbers you just write down all the symbols one after the other in the right order. For
example: CXI + VII = CXVIII.

Although this rule is very simple, care has to be taken when the result is too many symbols. For
the case: VII + II, the answer should be IX, not VIIII. Multiplication is performed, similar to the
Egyptian way, using multiple addition steps.

Discussion

1 = I (unu)
5 = V (cinci)
10 = X (zece)
50 = L (cincizeci)
100 = C (o suta)
500 = D (cinci sute)
1,000 = M (o mie)
5,000 = (V) (cinci mii)
10,000 = (X) (zece mii)
50,000 = (L) (cincizeci de mii)
100,000 = (C) (o suta de mii)
500,000 = (D) (cinci sute de mii)
1,000,000 = (M) (un milion) Look around you! Tell us about interesting Roman numerals that
you come across!

Greek numerals
The Greeks used two number systems, one mainly for currency and everyday counting and a
more sophisticated number system which was used by the learned. Strictly speaking there were
many Greek number systems, since each island had their own system however they were all
pretty similar.

The everyday acrophonic system was similar to the Egyptian. A rod or the letter I was used to
count units, i.e. the numbers 1 to 4. A new symbol was introduced for 5. The Greeks took the
first letter of the word five to symbolise that. The word five in Greek is Pente (think pentagon),
so the letter used was Pi the Greek P:

, The word ten in Greek is Dekka (think decagon), so the letter used was Delta the Greek D:
, and so on (in the quiz later on, you will be challenged to decipher other Greek numerals).

The intellectual elite used many more symbols for their numbers, mainly for scientific writing.
In fact, they used all the letters of the alphabet, and in multiple case or font. They probably
did this to reduce the length of the numbers they wrote, however this made number reading
difficult. Here is a glance of their system: For the numbers 1-9, they used:

=1

=2
=3
=4
=5
=6
=7
=8
=9

Then, we have the tens:

=10

=20
=30
=40
=50
=60
=70
=80
=90

and the hundreds:

=100

=200
=300
=400
=500
=600
=700
=800
=900

Numbers were constructed using addition, for example, the number 429 would be written:

. Numbers larger than 999 were constructed using extra symbols denoting the thousands ten thousands
etc. in a similar way that a bar was written over large Roman numerals for the same purpose. To denote
thousands a subscript or superscript iota, was used.

would be 5429.

The fact that all the numbers can be represented by letters, the art of Isopsephy, giving words a
numeric value and vice-versa, arose. This is similar to the Hebrew Gematria which was widely
practiced throughout the ages. The Greek word fire:

, for example has a numeric value of ++=80+50+100=230

If all of this interests you, you may want to learn ancient Greek! Here is a great site to start, but
dont forget to return to the course. We still have a lot of things to learn

Discussion

Join the discussion and share some other numeral systems with us.

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

The Mayan number system

Erika Roldan is a mathematician from Mexico, who specialises in the history and philosophy of
math and the popularisation of math in South America. I first met Erika at the Gathering for
Gardner recreational math, magic and art conference in Atlanta.

In the this video and the following, with the help of her brother, Eric, they explain the Mayan
base-20 number system and how to do Mayan arithmetic.

Erika and Eric Roldan, Mexico

Mayan arithmetic
Thanks - Erika and Eric Roldan, for sharing this with us. If you have any questions about Mayan
arithmetic, please post in the discussions!

Binary codes
In modern times, once the digital revolution came along, there was a need for a new coding
system which would be suitable for computers and other electrical-digital devices. The system
that was chosen was the binary system, in which all numbers are coded using only the digits 0
and 1. Binary symbology is very important in the computer world. The digits 0 and 1 are called
bits. They are translated into electric current flows the bit 1 symbolises the fact that there is a
flow, and the bit 0 symbolises that there is no flow inside the computer. The sequence of these
electric symbols is the language of the computer, and using it the computer can perform the
instructions we give it.

The binary number system

We write numbers today as strings made up of the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. Each digit takes on
a different numeric value according to its position. In the number 101, for example, the numeric
value of the lefthand 1 is 100, while the numeric value of the righthand 1 is 1. Mathematically
speaking, the positional decimal notation that we use determines the value of the number
according to powers of ten. Digits written in the units column, the righthand-most digit, retain
their numeric value because they are multiplied by 1, which is ten to the power of zero (100). The
numerical value of the digits in the next column to the left, the tens column, is that digit
multiplied by ten to the power of one (101), i.e. 10. and so on. So, the numeric value of the string
of digits: 973 is really:
9 x 102 + 7 x 101 + 3 x 100 = 9 x 100 + 7 x 10 + 3 x 1 = 973.

In the binary system, the location of the digits determines their value according to powers of 2.
The binary system is a base 2 system, using only the digits 0 and 1. These digits are multiplied
by 20=1 when in the column on the extreme right, by 21=2, when in the next column to the left,
by 22=4, when in the next column to the left and so on.

Here is the binary table for the first 32 numbers:

Decimal Binary

0 00000

1 00001

2 00010

3 00011
Decimal Binary

4 00100

5 00101

6 00110

7 00111

8 01000

9 01001

10 01010

11 01011

12 01100

13 01101

14 01110

15 01111

16 10000

17 10001

18 10010

19 10011

20 10100

21 10101

22 10110

23 10111

24 11000

25 11001

26 11010

27 11011
Decimal Binary

28 11100

29 11101

30 11110

31 11111

Translating binary to decimal and vice-versa

To translate a binary number into decimal, multiply the rightmost digit by 1 (20), the second digit
to the left by 2 (21), the third digit to the left by 4 (22), the fourth digit by 8 (23) and so on.
Example: the number 1011 in binary is the decimal 11:
1 x 23 + 0 x 22 + 1 x 21+ 1 x 20 = 1 x 8 + 0 x 4 + 1 x 2 + 1 x 1= 11

There are a few ways to translate a decimal number to binary. The easiest way is to look for the
closest power of 2, write a 1 in the corresponding position and subtract from the original number.
Continue doing this until you reach zero. Example: the number 36 in binary is: 100100: The
closest power of 2 to 36 is 32 which is 25, so we know that the binary number will be 6 digits
long with a 1 in the sixth column from the right: 1-----.

36 - 32 = 4 which is 22, so the next 1 bit will be positioned in the third column from the right:
1001--.

4 - 4 = 0, so we have finished and the rest of the bits are zeroes: 100100.

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

Try and solve the computer symbology part

of the course challenge
Its time again for the course challenge. Try and decipher the third line of the challenge:

The solution to the computer symbology part

of course challenge
Great! - Were well on our way now. Have you ever wondered whether you can literally read
barcodes. Go on! Mark this step as complete and click next and well learn how to do that in
the next activity.

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute

of What are Barcodes?

A barcode is an image that uses lines of different thickness to represent information, usually, but
not exclusively, digits.

It is designed to be read by a special scanner in order to input it to a computer in a quick,

automatic way.

There are several advantages to the use of barcodes:

When the price of an item changes, you only need to update the database in the computer,
and not the items themselves.
Their use greatly reduces errors, allowing easy inventory checks.
It protects against customers who change the price labels.

There are two main types of barcode symbologies:

- Discrete each digit is represented separately. There is a visual distinction between each digit. -
Continuous there is no clear distinction between the digits.

Science Discrete barcodes

Here is the encoding of a discrete barcode symbology called Codabar.

In this barcode each digit is encoded using: three narrow lines, a single wide line, two narrow
gaps, and a single wide gap. For each digit these lines and gaps are placed in a different order.

The digit 0, for example, is encoded: narrow line, narrow gap, narrow line, narrow gap, narrow
line, wide gap and wide line.

The digit 1, for example, is encoded: narrow line, narrow gap, narrow line, narrow gap, wide
line, wide gap, narrow line. This method of encoding is called Codabar.
The image at the top of the page is the barcode of the number 1451, in Codabar.

Continuous barcodes
Most countries use continuous barcodes. One of the methods for encoding continuous barcodes
is called UPC (Universal Product Code). This method encodes a twelve-digit number and is
referred to as UPC-12 to distinguish it from the six-digit UPC-E barcode. The encoding is done
as follows: a starting symbol, six encoded digits, a middle symbol, six encoded digits and an end
symbol. The start, middle and end symbols are known as: Guard Bars.

Here is an example of a UPC barcode:

The beginning and end symbols are two long narrow lines with a narrow gap between
them.
The middle symbol is a narrow gap followed by a narrow line, then a narrow gap, a
narrow line and a final narrow gap.
The digits in UPC are encoded into a sequence of lines and gaps in the following manner:

Two tables are used, each one having ten rows and seven columns:
In each table, the rows indicate the coding of digits from 0 to 9. The difference between the two
tables is that one table indicates the coding of the left-hand digits, while the other is for the right-
hand ones. In each column the digit 0 represents a gap, and 1 represents a line. This way, the
seven digits (0 or 1) in each row in the table make up a sequence of lines and gaps which are that
digits code. If we take, for example, a sequence of three 1s (111), the line would be three
times as thick as a line coded from a single 1 digit (010). Another example: 00 stands for a
double gap. A single gap is encoded with a single 0.

Here is the UPC coding for 012345678912:

Attached below are pdf files of the UPC and Codabar encodings.

If youve taken the trouble to look at a barcode on a product, you might find a barcode that looks
like UPC, but has 13 digits instead of 12. This is because the last digit is whats known as a
checksum. Well take a look at checksums in the following step. In the meantime, Id like to ask
you to do me a favour. Take a look at some barcodes on everyday products and see if you can
discover the symbology used. You can use this article to help.

Dont forget to let us know what you found in the comments below.

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

ISBNs and checksum digits

Before we take a look at checksums, Id like to backtrack a bit and look at a special kind of serial
number: ISBNs (International Standard Book Number).

ISBNs

Books can be arranged in many different ways. We can arrange them by their subject, by the
name of author, or according to the books title. In the past, librarians used to write down the
location of each book on index cards. Librarians had to be extremely well-organised, otherwise
the books would get lost. Fortunately, nowadays, the books are registered on a computer. Details
such as the name of the author, the publisher, number of pages, and location inside the library are
recorded next to the books title.
To make matters easier for the computer system (and us), each book is assigned a serial number,
the ISBN, which serves as its ID code. Take the paperback: Harry Potter and the
Philosophers Stone and look at the first page. Our English edition of the book has the
following identification number written on the first page: ISBN 0747532745 .
The ISBN also appears on the back, usually just above the barcode. It is an international
identification code, unique to each edition of the book and is usually published on the books
back cover, as well as on the copyright page (one of the first pages of the book). Until the end of
2006 the ISBN had ten digits, and was called ISBN-10. As of January 1st, 2007, it has thirteen
digits, and is called ISBN-13.

ISBN-10 and check digits

Lets take a look at the structure of ISBN-10.

The ten digits of ISBN-10 are divided into four parts, sometimes separated by a hyphen (-), the
four parts are:

A number for the language of the book (for example, 0 represents books in English, 2 represents
books in French, 88 - Italian, 965 - Hebrew etc.)
A number representing the books publisher

The books serial number (used by the publisher)

The last digit the rightmost digit - is called the check digit.

There are many examples of places that use check digits. One example is the last digit of a
passport number. Usually, it is used when there are large numbers that have many digits. When
copying such a number, there is a greater chance of making a mistake in one of the digits. The
purpose of the check digit is to find these mistakes.

Nowadays, computers are used to calculate the check digit. When planning the check digit
calculation we try to make it so that many mistakes as possible are discovered. In the 1950s, the
German American mathematician Hans Peter Luhn developed an algorithm for calculating check
digits that is used all over the world to this day.

The ISBN check digit is chosen so that a mathematical manipulation on all the ten digits of the
number will always result in a number that is divisible by 11 without remainder. Once the digit is
chosen and we have the full ISBN number, we can check if it is valid using the following
algorithm:

1. Multiply the first digit by 1, the second by 2, the third by 3, and so on until you reach the last
digit, which should be multiplied by 10.
2. Add up the ten numbers (products) you got in the previous step, and divide this sum by 11 (you
can use a calculator) and take a look at the final result:

o If it is a whole number (meaning there was no remainder or fraction), then the ISBN is
valid, and youre done!
 o Otherwise, the ISBN is not valid

Example: the ISBN 965-448-765-9 (of the Hebrew translation of Harry Potter and the
Philosophers Stone)

1. Multiply the ISBNs digits by 1 to 10:

91 + 62 + 53 + 44 + 45 + 86 + 77 + 68 + 59 + 910
2. Add up the ten numbers (products) from the previous step:
9 + 12 + 15 + 16 + 20 + 48 + 49 + 48 + 45 + 90 = 352

3. Divide the sum by 11:

352 11 = 32
The result is a whole number, and there is no remainder the ISBN is valid!

Checksums in barcodes

The rightmost digit is a check digit in most of the barcodes also. This digit is also known as the
checksum. Lets take a look at checksums in another common barcode - EAN-13. We will not go
into the details of its structure here, and mention only that if the first digit in this code is 0, then
the code is identical to UPC-12, which we have already met.
The rightmost digit in products of this type is a check digit, which is calculated in the following
way:

The first digit in the barcode is multiplied by 1, the second by 3, the third by 1 again, the fourth
by 3 and so on, so that the digits are multiplied alternately by 1 and 3
The products are added up

The check digit (which is the 13th digit) should be the difference between the sum from the
second step and the closest multiple of 10 that is larger or equal to this sum.

For example, lets check: the code 729000017472? (? represents the check digit).
We perform the multiplication and summing according to the instructions:
71+23+91+03+01+03+01+13+71+43+71+23=57
The closest multiple of 10 greater than 57 is 60. The difference between 60 and 57 is 3, so the
check digit is 3.

Now we know all that we need to take a broader look at barcodes, before we challenge you to
read some with your naked eyes

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

2 and 3 Dimensional Barcodes

UPC-A and EAN-13 are among the most used barcode systems. UPC-A is the primary barcode
system for the United States, while EAN-13 is dominant in Europe. There is not that much
difference between the systems. EAN-13 has a more complicated way of encoding the first seven
digits, and you can read about that in detail here.

2d barcodes

Many times, we want much more information to be encoded. Perhaps we want to encode letters
as well as numbers, or the address of a website. In 1994, the Japanese Denso Wave company
designed a two-dimensional barcode for the automobile industry. Since they did not patent the
code and made it accessible for public use, the 2d encoding, known as QR code became very
popular and dominates the two-dimensional barcode systems. The basic idea of two-dimensional
barcodes is that instead of using linear bars which encode one bit each, why not use a system that
divides a given square into dots or pixels, where each pixel is a bit. That way, much more
information can be stored. This is exactly what Denso Wave did. Here is the QR code of Yossi
Elran.

You can design your own QR code here. If you encode more information in QR codes, the image
becomes more complex. Compare the previous QR code with the code for Dr. Yossi Elran
instructs the Future Learn course on math puzzles:

The structure of QR codes is rather complicated and beyond the scope of this course, but if you
want to delve into it, here is a good place to start.
Generally speaking, a QR code has 5 definitive regions.
(By Bobmath - This image was derived from QR Code Structure Example 2.svg:, CC BY-SA
3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25534216)

Version information. Different versions of QR codes can encode different amount of information
Format information. Information about the encoding itself. The black and white dots on the code
are not the direct information bits. The actual information is transformed using whats known as
a mask. The format information tells us the specifications of this mask, as well as information
about error correction. Format information is critical for correct deciphering of the barcode, so it
is duplicated and placed in at least two separate parts of the barcode.

Date and error correction. Most of the area of the barcode are the masked information bits.
There is also an area set aside for error correction. This is similar to the checksum digits in 1-d
barcodes. Error correction bits are slightly more sophisticated as they enable us to reconstruct
the barcode even if some of it is damaged or missing!

Required patterns. Youve seen the large squares in the corners. These and some other features
are required in all barcodes for correct positioning with respect to the scanner and other
reasons.

Quiet zone. The outskirts of the barcode should be distinguishable from its immediate
environment.

3d barcodes

The immediate question one asks after learning about 1d and 2d barcodes, is, is there a 3d
barcode, so that even more information can be stored?
The answer is yes - and no! There are 3d barcodes, but they are only 3d in the structural sense.
They have height as well as length and width. However, they were not designed for more
information. Rather, they are a way of using the scanning of height for cases when we want to
apply barcodes to rough surfaces. A kind of 3d barcode that is really 2d are color QR codes.

The use of color instead of just black and white allows for much more information to be stored.
Still, a true 3d barcode is sure to be invented in the near future, if it hasnt already!

Discussion

Feel free to ask me any questions or comment!

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science

Week summary
Congratulations! We have completed the second week of the course.

By now, we are well into the course. I would really like to know how it went for you and how do
you feel? Please share with us your thoughts. What have you learnt? How are you doing? Are
you struggling with any aspects of this weeks content? Equally, has it provoked you to ask
deeper questions about symbologies?

Please ask any questions you have in this step. If you know the answer, of feel you could offer
some insight about a question, please reply to your fellow learners. We will also be answering
questions when we can, so remember to follow us to keep up to date with our responses.

It would be great if we can use the discussion panel below to reflect on this and also to challenge
each other with your own number symbology problems.

Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of
Science