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Apotome (mathematics)
In the historical study of mathematics, an apotome is a line segment formed from a longer line segment by breaking it into two parts, one of which is commensurable only in power to the whole; the other part is the apotome. In this definition, two line segments are said to be "commensurable only in power" when the ratio of their lengths is an irrational number but the ratio of their squared lengths is rational. Translated into modern algebraic language, an apotome can be interpreted as a quadratic irrational number formed by subtracting one square root of a rational number from another. This concept of the apotome appears in ''Euclid's Elements'' beginning in book X, where Euclid defines two special kinds of apotomes. In an apotome of the first kind, the whole is rational, while in an apotome of the second kind, the part subtracted from it is rational; both kinds of apotomes also satisfy an additional condition. Euclid Proposition XIII.6 states that, if a rational line segment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Mathematics
The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the History of mathematical notation, mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments have come to light only in a few locales. From 3000 BC the Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Akkad (region), Akkad and Assyria, followed closely by Ancient Egypt and the Levantine state of Ebla began using arithmetic, algebra and geometry for purposes of taxation, commerce, trade and also in the field of astronomy to record time and formulate calendars. The earliest mathematical texts available are from Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, Egypt – ''Plimpton 322'' (Babylonian mathematics, Babylonian – 1900 BC),Friberg, J. (1981). "Methods and traditions of Babylonian mathematics. Plimpton 322, Pythagorean triples, and the Babylonian triangle parameter equations", ''Historia Mathematica'', 8, pp. 277–318. the ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commensurability (mathematics)
In mathematics, two non- zero real numbers ''a'' and ''b'' are said to be ''commensurable'' if their ratio ' is a rational number; otherwise ''a'' and ''b'' are called ''incommensurable''. (Recall that a rational number is one that is equivalent to the ratio of two integers.) There is a more general notion of commensurability in group theory. For example, the numbers 3 and 2 are commensurable because their ratio, , is a rational number. The numbers \sqrt and 2\sqrt are also commensurable because their ratio, \frac=\frac, is a rational number. However, the numbers \sqrt and 2 are incommensurable because their ratio, \frac, is an irrational number. More generally, it is immediate from the definition that if ''a'' and ''b'' are any two non-zero rational numbers, then ''a'' and ''b'' are commensurable; it is also immediate that if ''a'' is any irrational number and ''b'' is any non-zero rational number, then ''a'' and ''b'' are incommensurable. On the other hand, if both ''a'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irrational Number
In mathematics, the irrational numbers are all the real numbers that are not rational numbers. That is, irrational numbers cannot be expressed as the ratio of two integers. When the ratio of lengths of two line segments is an irrational number, the line segments are also described as being '' incommensurable'', meaning that they share no "measure" in common, that is, there is no length ("the measure"), no matter how short, that could be used to express the lengths of both of the two given segments as integer multiples of itself. Among irrational numbers are the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, Euler's number ''e'', the golden ratio ''φ'', and the square root of two. In fact, all square roots of natural numbers, other than of perfect squares, are irrational. Like all real numbers, irrational numbers can be expressed in positional notation, notably as a decimal number. In the case of irrational numbers, the decimal expansion does not terminate, nor end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulletin Of The American Mathematical Society
The ''Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society'' is a quarterly mathematical journal published by the American Mathematical Society. Scope It publishes surveys on contemporary research topics, written at a level accessible to non-experts. It also publishes, by invitation only, book reviews and short ''Mathematical Perspectives'' articles. History It began as the ''Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society'' and underwent a name change when the society became national. The Bulletin's function has changed over the years; its original function was to serve as a research journal for its members. Indexing The Bulletin is indexed in Mathematical Reviews, Science Citation Index, ISI Alerting Services, CompuMath Citation Index, and Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences. See also *'' Journal of the American Mathematical Society'' *'' Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society'' *'' Notices of the American Mathematical Society'' *'' Proceedings of the Ame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quadratic Irrational
In mathematics, a quadratic irrational number (also known as a quadratic irrational or quadratic surd) is an irrational number that is the solution to some quadratic equation with rational coefficients which is irreducible over the rational numbers. Since fractions in the coefficients of a quadratic equation can be cleared by multiplying both sides by their least common denominator, a quadratic irrational is an irrational root of some quadratic equation with integer coefficients. The quadratic irrational numbers, a subset of the complex numbers, are algebraic numbers of degree 2, and can therefore be expressed as :, for integers ; with , and non-zero, and with square-free. When is positive, we get real quadratic irrational numbers, while a negative gives complex quadratic irrational numbers which are not real numbers. This defines an injection from the quadratic irrationals to quadruples of integers, so their cardinality is at most countable; since on the other hand e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Square Root
In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that y^2 = x; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or y \cdot y) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16 because 4^2 = (-4)^2 = 16. Every nonnegative real number has a unique nonnegative square root, called the ''principal square root'' or simply ''the square root'' (with a definite article, see below), which is denoted by \sqrt, where the symbol "\sqrt" is called the '' radical sign'' or ''radix''. For example, to express the fact that the principal square root of 9 is 3, we write \sqrt = 3. The term (or number) whose square root is being considered is known as the ''radicand''. The radicand is the number or expression underneath the radical sign, in this case, 9. For non-negative , the principal square root can also be written in exponent notation, as x^. Every positive number has two square roots: \sqrt (which is positive) and -\sqrt (which i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euclid's Elements
The ''Elements'' ( ) is a mathematics, mathematical treatise written 300 BC by the Ancient Greek mathematics, Ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. ''Elements'' is the oldest extant large-scale deductive treatment of mathematics. Drawing on the works of earlier mathematicians such as Hippocrates of Chios, Eudoxus of Cnidus and Theaetetus (mathematician), Theaetetus, the ''Elements'' is a collection in 13 books of definitions, postulates, propositions and mathematical proofs that covers plane and solid Euclidean geometry, elementary number theory, and Commensurability (mathematics), incommensurable lines. These include Pythagorean theorem, Thales' theorem, the Euclidean algorithm for greatest common divisors, Euclid's theorem that there are infinitely many prime numbers, and the Compass-and-straightedge construction, construction of regular polygons and Regular polyhedra, polyhedra. Often referred to as the most successful textbook ever written, the ''Elements'' has continued to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euclid
Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely dominated the field until the early 19th century. His system, now referred to as Euclidean geometry, involved innovations in combination with a synthesis of theories from earlier Greek mathematicians, including Eudoxus of Cnidus, Hippocrates of Chios, Thales and Theaetetus. With Archimedes and Apollonius of Perga, Euclid is generally considered among the greatest mathematicians of antiquity, and one of the most influential in the history of mathematics. Very little is known of Euclid's life, and most information comes from the scholars Proclus and Pappus of Alexandria many centuries later. Medieval Islamic mathematicians invented a fanciful biography, and medieval Byzantine and early Renaissance scholars mistook him for the earlier philo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Ratio
In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \frac = \frac = \varphi, where the Greek letter Phi (letter), phi ( or ) denotes the golden ratio. The constant satisfies the quadratic equation and is an irrational number with a value of The golden ratio was called the extreme and mean ratio by Euclid, and the divine proportion by Luca Pacioli; it also goes by other names. Mathematicians have studied the golden ratio's properties since antiquity. It is the ratio of a regular pentagon's diagonal to its side and thus appears in the Straightedge and compass construction, construction of the dodecahedron and icosahedron. A golden rectangle—that is, a rectangle with an aspect ratio of —may be cut into a square and a smaller rectangle with the same aspect ratio. The golden ratio has bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematical Terminology
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), Mathematical analysis, analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics). Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of mathematical object, abstract objects that consist of either abstraction (mathematics), abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicspurely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to proof (mathematics), prove properties of objects, a ''proof'' consisting of a succession of applications of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euclidean Geometry
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematics, Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry, ''Euclid's Elements, Elements''. Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms (postulates) and deducing many other propositions (theorems) from these. One of those is the parallel postulate which relates to parallel lines on a Euclidean plane. Although many of Euclid's results had been stated earlier,. Euclid was the first to organize these propositions into a logic, logical system in which each result is ''mathematical proof, proved'' from axioms and previously proved theorems. The ''Elements'' begins with plane geometry, still taught in secondary school (high school) as the first axiomatic system and the first examples of mathematical proofs. It goes on to the solid geometry of three dimensions. Much of the ''Elements'' states results of what are now called algebra and number theory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
