Definition:One Hundred Fowls Problem
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Definition
One Hundred Fowls problems are variants of the classic problem:
$100$ fowls were sold for $100$ shillings.
- The cockerels were sold for $5$ shillings each.
- The hens were sold for $3$ shillings each.
- The chicks were sold for $\frac 1 3$ of a shilling each.
How many of each were sold?
Also see
- Results about One Hundred Fowls problems can be found here.
Historical Note
According to David Singmaster, One Hundred Fowls problems originated in Chinese texts sometime around the $5$th century CE.
However, note that the Bakhshali Manuscript from India contains one such; while it is possible that it dates to $3$rd century, this is debated.
By the $9$th century this sort of problem was well-known throughout the world.
It first appeared in European texts in Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes by Alcuin of York, where several such problems were posed.
Sources
- 1992: John Hadley/2 and David Singmaster: Problems to Sharpen the Young (Math. Gazette Vol. 76, no. 475: pp. 102 – 126) www.jstor.org/stable/3620384