Core Studies 5: Experimental Section
UPC Checker

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We discussed the error-detection scheme used in UPC symbols. A UPC symbol consists of 12 digits. The first digit refers to the general category; the next 5 digits are the manufacturer's code; the next five digits are the product code; the final digit is used for error detection. The last digit is chosen so that

3 * ( a 1 + a 3 + a 5 + a 7 + a 9 + a 11 ) + a 2 + a 4 + a 6 + a 8 + a 10 + a 12 = 0 mod 10


To check how this scheme works, press the button:
Product UPC:

If you have entered a valid UPC code, you can look up the item through an on-line database. (This database is far from comprehensive - it is quite likely that the item you look up will not be there. However, you can also browse or add items to the database.) Click on the button below to look up the product:

You can also use Dan Bornstein's cute utility to generate the bar code for the UPC code you entered:
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