Problems from Another Time

Individual problems from throughout mathematics history, as well as articles that include problem sets for students.

An oblong garden is a half yard longer than it is wide and consists entirely of a gravel walk...

A speculator bought stock at 25% below par and sold it at 20% above par. He gained $1560. How much did he invest?

A carpenter has undertaken to build a house in 20 days. He takes on another man and says; "If we build the house together, we can accomplish the work in 8 days!" How long would it take this other man to build the house working alone?

'He Advanced Him 200 Lambs of Gold': The Pamiers Manuscript - A Source of the Two-Trains Problem?

Discussion of 15th century French manuscript, with translation of its problems, including one with negative solutions

Historical Activities for the Calculus Classroom

Curve sketching, tangent lines, and optimization, explored via interactive applets

Viete: Triangle

In a right triangle, let the perpendicular be 5 and the sum of the base and hypotenuse 25. Find the lengths of the base and hypotenuse

Square Battalions

A general formed his men into a square, that is, an equal number in rank and file, and he found that he had an excess of 59 men.

Perimeters of Similar Triangles

The perimeters of two similar triangles are 45 and 135 respectively. One side of the first triangle has length 11 and a second side has length 19. Find the lengths of the sides of the second triangle.

Area of Elliptical Segment

Find the area of the elliptical segment cut off parallel to the shorter axis;

A Lion in a Well

There is a lion in a well whose depth is 50 palms. He climbs and slips back a certain amount each day. In how many days will he get out of the well?