Problems from Another Time

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

If a ball 6 inches in diameter weighs 32 lbs, what will be the weight of a ball 3 inches in diameter?

Given a semicircle, prove that if O is the circle's center, DO=OE.

The purchase price for an apple and an orange is 100 yen. When n oranges and n + 3 apples are bought the price is 520 yen. Find the number n of oranges and the price of one orange.

A Game of Cat and Mouse

A mouse is at the top of a poplar tree 60 braccia high, and a cat is on the ground at its foot. The mouse descends 1/2 a braccia a day and at night it turns back 1/6 of a braccia.

Investing in Apples and Pears

A merchant woman buys and sells apples and pears. How much did she invest in apples; how much in pears?

Conic Contents

Determine the greatest cylinder that can be inscribed in a given cone.

Feeling Sluggish

A leech invited a slug for a lunch a leuca away.

Isoceles Trapezoid

Given the dimensions of an isosceles trapezoid, find the length of the transversal drawn parallel to the bases that divides the trapezoid into 2 equal areas.

A Snake in the Hole

A powerful, unvanquished, excellent black snake, 32 hastas in length, enters into a hole at the rate of 7 1/2 angulas in 5/14 of a day, and in the course of 1/4 of a day its tail grows 2 3/4 of an angula.

Logarithms: The Early History of a Familiar Function - Joost Bürgi Introduces Logarithms

The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.