Search All of the Math Forum:
Views expressed in these public forums are not endorsed by
Drexel University or The Math Forum.
|
|
|
|
Remainder Arithmetic and ancient Egypt
Posted:
Apr 22, 2006 8:31 PM
|
|
Weights and measures were exactly computed in
ancient Egypt by at least 2,000 BCE. As mentioned
previously, the Akhmim Wooden Tablet used a method
that partitioned by volume unity (64/64) by n,
such that:
(64/64)/n = Q/64 + (5R/n)*1/320
This form looks a little odd, in that 1/320th
that scribes named no, was factored from the
remainder term's Egyptian fraction series.
However, fro the hin, 1/10th of a hekat, Ahmes
provides 29 examples of it being found by setting
the unity term to (640/64), or
(640/64)/n = Q/64 + R/64n
The remainder term looks easy read now, and
no scaling factor was used to reduce the size
of the Egyptian fraction computation.
It should be noted that ro itself was written
as a remainder arithmetic statement, per:
(20480/64)/320 = 64/64 = 1 ro
with many medical prescription units using n values
upto 320 per:
(20480)/n = Q/64 + R/64n
The Egyptian mathematical texts continue to yield
is very old secrets, given a little patience.
Best Regards to all,
Milo Gardner
|
|
|
|
