Typically many games of all kinds use running totals for scoring the actual values of past events in the sequence are not important, only the current score, that is to say, the running total. Similarly, the machine may keep a running total of all transactions made, so that at any point in time the total can be checked against the amount in the till, even though the machine has no memory of past transactions. By the end of the transaction this will, of course, be the total of all the goods.

For example, most cash registers display a running total of the purchases so far rung in. While this concept is very simple, it is extremely common in everyday use. Similarly one can multiply instead of add to get the running product. This is used, for example, when scoring the game of darts. The same method will also work with subtraction, but in that case it is not strictly speaking a total (which implies summation) but a running difference not to be confused with a delta. In fact, we would not even need to know the sequence at all, but simply add 6 to 18 to get the new running total as each new number is added, we get a new running total. So, 18 was, and 24 now is, the running total. But if we regarded 18 as the running total, we need only add 6 to 18 to get 24. This is arrived at by simple summation of the sequence. What is the total of that sequence?Īnswer: 5 + 8 + 3 + 2 + 6 = 24. Now we insert the number 6 at the end of the sequence to get. What is the total of this sequence?Īnswer: 5 + 8 + 3 + 2 = 18. Second, it can save having to record the sequence itself, if the particular numbers are not individually important.Ĭonsider the sequence. First, it allows the total to be stated at any point in time without having to sum the entire sequence each time. The purposes of a running total are twofold. JSTOR ( June 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī running total is the summation of a sequence of numbers which is updated each time a new number is added to the sequence, by adding the value of the new number to the previous running total.

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Another word for running the numbers