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An Egyptian fraction is a finite sum of distinct unit fractions, such as + +. That ... Compared to ancient Egyptian expansions or to more modern methods, this method ...
Ancient Egyptian mathematics is the mathematics that was developed and used in Ancient Egypt c. 3000 to c. 300 BCE, from the Old Kingdom of Egypt until roughly the beginning of Hellenistic Egypt. The ancient Egyptians utilized a numeral system for counting and solving written mathematical problems, often involving multiplication and fractions .
An Egyptian fraction is a representation of an irreducible fraction as a sum of distinct unit fractions, such as 5 / 6 = 1 / 2 + 1 / 3 . As the name indicates, these representations have been used as long ago as ancient Egypt, but the first published systematic method for constructing such expansions was described in 1202 ...
Also bear in mind that the fraction 2/3 is the single exception, used in addition to integers, that Ahmes uses alongside all (positive) rational unit fractions to express Egyptian fractions. The 2/n table can be said to partially follow an algorithm (see problem 61B) for expressing 2/n as an Egyptian fraction of 2 terms, when n is composite.
The Berlin Papyrus 6619 is an ancient Egyptian papyrus document from the Middle Kingdom, [3] second half of the 12th (c. 1990–1800 BC) or 13th Dynasty (c. 1800 BC – 1649 BC). [4] The two readable fragments were published by Hans Schack-Schackenburg in 1900 and 1902. [5] [6]
An older ancient Egyptian papyrus contained a similar table of Egyptian fractions; the Lahun Mathematical Papyri, written around 1850 BCE, is about the age of one unknown source for the Rhind papyrus. The Kahun 2/n fractions were identical to the fraction decompositions given in the Rhind Papyrus' 2/n table. [8]
In the history of mathematics, Egyptian algebra, as that term is used in this article, refers to algebra as it was developed and used in ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian mathematics as discussed here spans a time period ranging from c. 3000 BCE to c. 300 BCE. There are limited surviving examples of ancient Egyptian algebraic problems.
An Egyptian fraction is the sum of distinct positive unit fractions, for example +. This definition derives from the fact that the ancient Egyptians expressed all fractions except , and in this manner. Every positive rational number can be expanded as an Egyptian fraction.