Assignment 1 Slides + Reflection


Assignment
We were solving Problem 10, which was Ahmes' loaves problem of dividing 100 loaves amongst 5 men with two constraints.

1) The share distribution must have an arithmetical progression ie. 1,3,5,7
2) 1/7 of the three largest shares must equal the two smallest shares.

Here is a link to our presentation:

Reflection

Beginning the assignment I was quite unfamiliar the regula falsi or the false position method, and had only heard about it when Susan first touched upon it in class and using it in simple algebraic multiplication.

Working with the false position method to solve this problem was fascinating because I could see the intuition and the building blocks forming for modern algebra. More specifically, for this problem in modern mathematics one could use simple algebra and a system of equations (or substitution), however, the false position method really uses an elementary combination of substitution using algebra through trial and error.

However, as mentioned in class, the false position method can become slightly counter-intuitive when variable are negative integers and irrational fractions making the trial and error method quite complex.

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