Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes/Problems/28 - De Civitate Triangula/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes by Alcuin of York: Problem $28$: De Civitate Triangula
According to the Roman formula the area of the triangle is $4500$ square feet.
This is $22 \frac 1 2$ house areas.
The actual area is approximately $4019$ square feet, which is just over $20$ house areas.
The marking down of $45$ to $40$ in the calculation may be an attempt to compensate for the inaccuracy of the formula.
However, fitting them into a triangle is not easy.
David Singmaster reports that he managed to fit $15$ in.
John Hadley, on the other hand, managed $18$, but bent the walls of some of the houses slightly.
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