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{{short description|Deliberate process that transforms inputs to outputs with variable change}}
{{For|the card game|Calculation (game)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2019}}
{{Calculation results}}

A '''calculation''' is a deliberate [[mathematical]] process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs or ''results''. The term is used in a variety of senses, from the very definite [[arithmetic]]al calculation of using an [[algorithm]], to the vague [[heuristic]]s of calculating a strategy in a competition, or calculating the chance of a successful relationship between two people.

For example, [[multiplying]] 7 by 6 is a simple algorithmic calculation. Extracting the [[square root]] or the [[cube root]] of a number using mathematical models is a more complex algorithmic calculation.
                                                                                        
[[Statistical estimation]]s of the likely election results from opinion polls also involve algorithmic calculations, but produces ranges of possibilities rather than exact answers.

To ''calculate'' means to determine mathematically in the case of a number or amount, or in the case of an abstract problem to deduce the answer using [[logic]], [[reason]] or [[common sense]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/calculate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831035348/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/calculate|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 31, 2018|title=calculate {{!}} Definition of calculate in English by Oxford Dictionaries|website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English|access-date=2018-08-30}}</ref> The English word derives from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|calculus}}, which originally meant a [[pebble]] (from Latin {{lang|la|calx|link=no}}), for instance the small stones used as a counters on an [[abacus]] ({{lang-la|abacus|link=no}}, {{lang-el|ἄβαξ|translit=abax|translit-std=ALA-LC}}). The abacus was an instrument used by Greeks and Romans for arithmetic calculations, preceding the [[slide-rule]] and the [[electronic calculator]], and consisted of perforated pebbles sliding on iron bars.

{{anchor|Comparison to computation}}Calculation is a prerequisite for [[computation]].{{cn|date=August 2022}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Philosophy|Psychology}}
* [[Calculus (disambiguation)]] — list of general methods of calculation by application area
* [[Complexity class]] — theoretical notion to categorize calculability
* [[Cost accounting]] — business application of calculation
* [[List of algorithms]] — fully formalized, computer-executable methods of calculation
* [[Mental calculation]] — performing arithmetics using one's brain only

==References==
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==External links==
{{Wiktionary|calculation}}
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4255 "The Lifting of the Veil in the Operations of Calculation"] is a manuscript, from the 18th-century, in Arabic, by [[Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi]], about calculation processes

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[[Category:Elementary arithmetic]]
[[Category:Information]]