Egyptian Fractions Revisited
It is well known that the ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions - i.e., fractions with unit numerators; this is how they, e.g., divided loaves of bread. What is not clear is why they used this representation. In this paper, we propose a new explanation: crudely speak...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Vilnius University
2009-04-01
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| Series: | Informatics in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://infedu.vu.lt/doi/10.15388/infedu.2009.03 |
| _version_ | 1818022335524896768 |
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| author | Olga KOSHELEVA Vladik KREINOVICH |
| author_facet | Olga KOSHELEVA Vladik KREINOVICH |
| author_sort | Olga KOSHELEVA |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is well known that the ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions - i.e., fractions with unit numerators; this is how they, e.g., divided loaves of bread. What is not clear is why they used this representation. In this paper, we propose a new explanation: crudely speaking, that the main idea behind the Egyptian fractions provides an optimal way of dividing the loaves. We also analyze the related properties of fractions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T08:30:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7c681e328382418a976c520cc9e614d5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1648-5831 2335-8971 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T08:30:01Z |
| publishDate | 2009-04-01 |
| publisher | Vilnius University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Informatics in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c681e328382418a976c520cc9e614d52022-12-22T02:03:56ZengVilnius UniversityInformatics in Education1648-58312335-89712009-04-0181354810.15388/infedu.2009.03Egyptian Fractions RevisitedOlga KOSHELEVA0Vladik KREINOVICH1Department of Teacher Education, University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas 79968, USADepartment of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas 79968, USAIt is well known that the ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions - i.e., fractions with unit numerators; this is how they, e.g., divided loaves of bread. What is not clear is why they used this representation. In this paper, we propose a new explanation: crudely speaking, that the main idea behind the Egyptian fractions provides an optimal way of dividing the loaves. We also analyze the related properties of fractions.https://infedu.vu.lt/doi/10.15388/infedu.2009.03Egyptian fractionsoptimizationeducational impact |
| spellingShingle | Olga KOSHELEVA Vladik KREINOVICH Egyptian Fractions Revisited Informatics in Education Egyptian fractions optimization educational impact |
| title | Egyptian Fractions Revisited |
| title_full | Egyptian Fractions Revisited |
| title_fullStr | Egyptian Fractions Revisited |
| title_full_unstemmed | Egyptian Fractions Revisited |
| title_short | Egyptian Fractions Revisited |
| title_sort | egyptian fractions revisited |
| topic | Egyptian fractions optimization educational impact |
| url | https://infedu.vu.lt/doi/10.15388/infedu.2009.03 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT olgakosheleva egyptianfractionsrevisited AT vladikkreinovich egyptianfractionsrevisited |