QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS
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We have used the word "gnomon" in several places during this course, particularly during the
module on ancient Chinese mathematics. What letter of the alphabet is a gnomon shaped like?
- CORRECT ANSWER- L
True or False: The Chinese numeration system that requred the use of a counting board and
rods was not a positional system. - CORRECT ANSWER- False
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art was central to the development of mathematics in
which country? - CORRECT ANSWER- China
Why did Chinese mathematics develop independently of Western cultural influence for so long?
- CORRECT ANSWER- The geography of China isolated the region from the rest of the world.
Which set of numbers was used on the counting boards of the ancient Chinese? - CORRECT
ANSWER- Integers -- both postive and negative
Why is the book Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art significant in the history of
mathematics? - CORRECT ANSWER- It is central to Chinese mathematical activity for hundreds
of years.
, What strategy did the Chinese use on their counting boards to avoid confusion between
consecutive places? - CORRECT ANSWER- Alternating the orientation of the rods
Chinese Square Root Algorithm: If a, b, and c are the digits (respectively) of the square root of
X, then which of the following is equal to X^0.5? - CORRECT ANSWER- a+b+c
How was ancient Chinese mathematics different from ancient Greek mathematics? - CORRECT
ANSWER- The Chinese mathematics did not have a proof-based axiomatic development.
The method that Liu Hui used to approximate the value of pi was similar to the method used by
which Greek mathematician? - CORRECT ANSWER- Archimedes
To what did "al-Jabr" and "al-Muqabala" refer in the title of al-Khwarizmi's book? - CORRECT
ANSWER- The operations used during the Islamic Empire to solve equations.
Which mathematician/poet used geometric methods to solve cubic equations? - CORRECT
ANSWER- Omar Khayyam
The Islamic mathematician, al-Khwarizmi, made his most significant contributions to which
topic in mathematics? - CORRECT ANSWER- Solving equations
The mathematician, al-Khwarizmi, used a symbol for zero in his book about numeration. -
CORRECT ANSWER- True
During the period of the Islamic Empire, negative numbers were acceptable solutions of
quadratic equations. - CORRECT ANSWER- False
What was the FIRST "translation movement?" - CORRECT ANSWER- The movement to
translate the world's knowledge into Arabic.