Posted on April 13, 2009 by Steve
This problem appeared in the Science and Technology section of
Cumhuriyet on Friday, 10 April 2009 (click image for the question). I confess I wasn't able to solve this problem unaided; I had to look up
le théorème d'Al-Kashi. (Jamshid al-Kashi gets a mention in the article on
approximations of pi for having derived, in 1424, 9 digits of 2π in base 60.)
Comments
I remain unenlightened as to the question.
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I bet you can work it out.
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Okay, here's a rough translation:
The Tasheron's Derd
With a sketch in his hand Niyazi came asking for help. His uncle Harun wanted to do some project with the sketch, and he wants to know the exact distance between A and N, which is about 8 kilometers. The points A and N were clearly marked, but he was unable to calculate the distance.
Question: With the distances in the sketch given in meters, what is the exact distance in meters between A and N?
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Results
are in.
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