Which term describes adding up numbers?

• A. String
• B. Selection
• C. Totalling
• D. Counting

Answer: (C)

Adding up numbers is called totalling. In algorithms, totalling means computing the sum by maintaining a running total and adding each value to it as you go through the data. For example, you start with total = 0 and update it with total = total + number for every number you encounter. Counting, by contrast, is about determining how many items there are by increasing a counter by 1 for each item, not summing their values. The other terms don’t describe this arithmetic action: a string is text data, and selection is a branching decision, not a numeric sum. Totalling is the right term because it captures the process of combining numbers to produce their total.