Problems from Another Time

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

A number is required; that the square shall be equal to twice the cube.

One says that 10 is divided into three parts and if the small part is multiplied by itself and added to the middle one multiplied by itself the result is the large one multiplied by itself...

The Length of a String

Two circles, the sum of whose radii is a, are placed in the same plane with their centers at a distance 2a...

Pepper Importation

A merchant bought 50,000 pounds of pepper in Portugal for 10,000 scudi and paid a tax of 500 scudi.

Losing My Marbles?

In a square box that contains 1000 marbles, how many will it take to reach across the bottom of the box in a straight row?

Sides of a Rectangle 2

In a rectangle, given the diagonal and perimeter, find the sides

Cow Dilemma

Suppose that for every 4 cows a farmer has, he should plow 1 acre of land, and allow 1 acre of pasture for every 3 cows; how many cows could he keep on 140 acres?

Peano on Wronskians: A Translation

How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students

The Rat Race

Now there is a wall 5 feet thick and two rats tunnel from opposite sides.

The Incircle of a Triangle

The incircle O(r) of triangle ABC touches AB at D, BC at E and AC at F. Find r in terms of AD, BE and CF.