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To solve a quadratic equation, the Babylonians essentially used the standard quadratic formula. They considered quadratic equations of the form: + = where b and c were not necessarily integers, but c was always positive. They knew that a solution to this form of equation is: [15]
Given a quadratic polynomial of the form + + it is possible to factor out the coefficient a, and then complete the square for the resulting monic polynomial. Example: + + = [+ +] = [(+) +] = (+) + = (+) + This process of factoring out the coefficient a can further be simplified by only factorising it out of the first 2 terms.
In stage 2, the well-attested Old Babylonian method of completing the square is used to solve what is effectively the system of equations b − a = 0.25, ab = 0.75. [6] Geometrically this is the problem of computing the lengths of the sides of a rectangle whose area A and side-length difference b − a are known, which was a recurring problem ...
Plimpton 322 is a Babylonian clay tablet, believed to have been written around 1800 BC, that contains a mathematical table written in cuneiform script.Each row of the table relates to a Pythagorean triple, that is, a triple of integers (,,) that satisfies the Pythagorean theorem, + =, the rule that equates the sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle to the square of the hypotenuse.
An Old Babylonian tablet (Strasbourg 363) seeks the solution of a quadratic equation. [1] c. 1800 BC: The Plimpton 322 tablet gives a table of Pythagorean triples in Babylonian Cuneiform script. [2] 1800 BC: Berlin Papyrus 6619 (19th dynasty) contains a quadratic equation and its solution. [3] [4] 800 BC
YBC 7289 is a Babylonian clay tablet notable for containing an accurate sexagesimal approximation to the square root of 2, the length of the diagonal of a unit square. This number is given to the equivalent of six decimal digits, "the greatest known computational accuracy ... in the ancient world". [ 1 ]
The tablets also include multiplication tables and methods for solving linear and quadratic equations. The Babylonian tablet YBC 7289 gives an approximation of √ 2 that is accurate to an equivalent of six decimal places. Babylonian mathematics were written using a sexagesimal (base-60) numeral system.
Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta is one of the first books to provide concrete ideas on positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero. [4] For example, it notes that the sum of a positive number and a negative number is their difference or, if they are equal, zero; that subtracting a negative number is equivalent to adding a positive number; that the product of two negative numbers is positive.