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Problems from Another Time

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

A square walled city of unknown dimensions has four gates, one at the center of each side.
A cylindrical tin tomato can is to be made which shall have a given capacity. Find what should be the ratio of the height to the radius of the base that the smallest possible amount of tin shall be required.
Three equal circles with radii 12 feet are tangent to each other. Compute the area enclosed between them.
How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students
In Archimedes' Book of Lemmas (ca 250), he introduces a figure that, due to its shape, has historically been known as "the shoemaker's knife" or arbelos.
A set of n disjoint, congruent circles packs the surface of a sphere S so that each region of the surface exterior to the circles is bounded by arcs of three of the circles.
There were two men, of whom the first had 3 small loaves of bread and the other, 2.
Discussion of 15th century French manuscript, with translation of its problems, including one with negative solutions
A wooden beam is stood vertically against a wall. The length of the beam is 30 units.
On a certain ground stands two poles 12 feet apart, the lesser pole is 35 ft. in height and the greater 40 ft. It is sought, if the greater pole will lean on the lesser, then in what part will it touch?

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