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Equations Through The Ages: Discovery Project

The document discusses the use of equations throughout history in various civilizations to solve problems. It provides examples of word problems from ancient Babylon dating to around 2000 BC, ancient Egypt from around 1850 BC, and 12th century India. It also discusses the work of Greek mathematician Diophantus and Chinese mathematician Chang Ch'iu-Chien and how equations continue to be important today. It poses several problems for the reader to solve related to the examples provided.

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Antonio Hdez Jmnz
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74 views1 page

Equations Through The Ages: Discovery Project

The document discusses the use of equations throughout history in various civilizations to solve problems. It provides examples of word problems from ancient Babylon dating to around 2000 BC, ancient Egypt from around 1850 BC, and 12th century India. It also discusses the work of Greek mathematician Diophantus and Chinese mathematician Chang Ch'iu-Chien and how equations continue to be important today. It poses several problems for the reader to solve related to the examples provided.

Uploaded by

Antonio Hdez Jmnz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DP1 - 2 Discovery Project: Equations through the Ages

Equations through the Ages


DISCOVERY Equations have been used to solve problems throughout recorded history, in
PROJECT every civilization. Here is a problem from ancient Babylon (ca. 2000 B.C.).

I found a stone but did not weigh it. After I added a seventh, and then added an
eleventh of the result, I weighed it and found it weighed 1 mina. What was the
original weight of the stone?

The answer given on the cuneiform tablet is 23 mina, 8 sheqel, and 22 12 se, where
1 mina 60 sheqel, and 1 sheqel 180 se.
In ancient Egypt, knowing how to solve word problems was a highly prized
secret. The Rhind Papyrus (ca. 1850 B.C.) contains many such problems.
Problem 32 in the Papyrus states
The British Museum

A quantity, its third, its quarter, added together become 2. What is the quantity?

The answer in Egyptian notation is 1 4 76, where the bar indicates


reciprocal, much like our notation 41.
The Greek mathematician Diophantus (ca. 250 A.D.) wrote the book
Arithmetica , which contains many word problems and equations. The Indian
mathematician Bhaskara (12th century A.D.) and the Chinese mathematician
Chang Chiu-Chien (6th century A.D.) also studied and wrote about equations.
Of course, equations continue to be important today.
1. Solve the Babylonian problem and show that their answer is correct.
2. Solve the Egyptian problem and show that their answer is correct.
3. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians used equations to solve practical
problems. From the examples given here, do you think that they may have
enjoyed posing and solving word problems just for fun?
4. Solve this problem from 12th-century India.
15 A peacock is perched at the top of a 15-cubit pillar, and a snakes hole is at the foot
x
of the pillar. Seeing the snake at a distance of 45 cubits from its hole, the peacock
pounces obliquely upon the snake as it slithers home. At how many cubits from the
45 snakes hole do they meet, assuming that each has traveled an equal distance?

5. Consider this problem from 6th-century China.


If a rooster is worth 5 coins, a hen 3 coins, and three chicks together one coin, how
many roosters, hens, and chicks, totaling 100, can be bought for 100 coins?

This problem has several answers. Use trial and error to nd at least one
answer. Is this a practical problem or more of a riddle? Write a short essay
to support your opinion.
6. Write a short essay explaining how equations affect your own life in todays
world.

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