Babylonian Geometry

Babylonians Contribution to Mathematics:

• they develop procedures for determining areas and
volume of various kind of figures
•They work out algorithms to determine square
roots.
•They solve mathematical problems that modern
mathematics would interpret in terms of linear and
quadratic equations.
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 Procedures for Determining
Lengths and Areas
 Note: Formulas were
presented in terms of
what are today called
coefficients lists, lists
of constants that
embody mathematical
relationship between
certain aspects of
various geometrical
figures.
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Say: 0; 52 ; 30 (=7/8) as the
coefficient of the height of a triangle
means that the altitude of an
equilateral triangle is 7/8 of the base
while the number 0;26;15 (=7/16) as
the coefficient for area means that
the area of an equilateral triangle is
7/16 times the square of the side.
(Note) that this is just approximately
correct, and that they both
approximate square root of 3 by 7/4)
 the defining component for the
triangle is the side.
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Procedures for Determining
Lengths and Areas
 Babylonians took the circumference as the
defining component of the circle.

 we gave two coefficients for the circle:

 0;20 (=1/3) for the diameter and 0;05 (=1/12) for the area.

 The meaning of the first coefficient is that the diameter is one

third of the circumference.

 The second means that the area is one-twelfth of the square

of the circumference
example

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Based on the tablet:
YBC 7302 (Yale Babylonian
Collection)

3
Interpretation:
The circle has a
circumference 3 and the area is found
9 by dividing 9 = 3^2 by 12 to get 0;45
45 (=3/4)

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Haddad 104
Circle calculations virtually always use the circumference.

Example:

Finding the area of the cross section of a log of

diameter 1;40 (= 1 2/3)

•The scribe first multiplies by 3 to find the circumference

equal to 5.
•5 is then squared and multiply it to ½ to get the area 2;05
(= 2 1/12).
Note: The Babylonian value of , the ratio of
circumference to diameter is 3;
4  = 12 is produced and is the constant by which
to divide the square of the circumference to give the area.
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Other Babylonian
Coefficients for other Figures
Bounded by Circular Arcs
 Babylonians calculated areas of two different
double bows:
 The barge
- made up of two- quarter circle arcs
 Bulls eye
- Composed of two third-circle arcs.

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 This figure were analogous to the circle and
that their defining component was the arc
making up the side.
 Thus areas of the two figures:

Note:
These results are accurate
under the assumption that the
area of the circle is C2/12 and
2/9 a2 9/32 a2 that square root of 3 = 7/4.
Where a is the length of the arc.

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Volume of Solids
 Babylonians realized that the volume V of a
rectangular block is V = l x w x h

 They also knew how to calculate the volume of

a prism given the area of a base.

 Like Egyptians and though Babylonians are

creating pyramidal structure there exist no
document that give explicitly the volume of a
pyramid.

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BM 96954 (British
Museum)
 A problem involving a grain pile in the shape
of a rectangular pyramid with an elongated
apex, like a pitched roof.
hw t
V (l  )
t 3 2
Where:

h l = length of the solid

w w = width
h = the height
l t = length of the arc

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Derivation of the formula
t

h
w

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 hwt hw (l  t )
V 
2 3
h
hwt hwl hwt
  
2 3 3
t
3hwt  2hwt hwl
 
6 3
w
This implies that
hwt hwl the Babylonians
 
6 3 were aware of
hw t
 (l  ) the correct
3 2
formula for the
h w
value of a
pyramid

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A formula for the Volume of a
truncated Pyramid
Square base a2, square top b2 and a height in h.

2 2
ab 1a b 
V  (     )h
 2  3 2 
Setting b = 0, gives rise to the complete pyramid formula

2 2
a 1 a 
V  (     )h
 2 3 2

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 There are other tablets where in volume is
calculated by the rule:

A simple but incorrect

1 2
2
2
V  a b h  
generalization for the rule
of the area of a trapezoid.

Remarks:
Although this formula is incorrect, the calculated answer would
not differ much from the correct ones.
Likewise, since there are no accurate empirical method for
measuring the volume, it is difficult to see how anyone would realize that
the answer were wrong.
Finally, the problems wherein this formulas occurred are that of
practical ones often related to the numbers of workmen needed to build a
particular structure and hence the slight inaccuracy would ha\vfe little
effect on the final answer.
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1.2.4 Square Roots and
the Pythagorean Theorem

 THE SQUARE ROOT ALGORITHM

 PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

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THE SQUARE ROOT
ALGORITHM
 When Babylonians needed a square root
to solve a problem they usually refer to a
table of square roots and is a rational
number.
 There are cases that 2 occurs and
thus the results is generally written as
1:25 (=1 5/12).

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YBC 7289

 This is an interesting tablet where it

includes a drawing of a square with
side indicated as 30 and two numbers,
1:24,51,10 and 42;25,35, written on the
diagonal.

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 YBC 7289  The product of 30 and
1:24,51,10 is precisely
1:24,51,10 42;25,35.
 It is a reasonable assumption
30
that the last number
represents the length of the
42;25,35
diagonal and that the other
number represents 2
Remarks: Whether 2 is given as 1;25 or as 1:24,51,10, there is no record of
how the value was calculated. Moreover, the scribes were surely aware that the
square of neither of these was exactly 2, or that these values were not exactly the
length of the side of the square of area 2 and further they must have known that
these values were approximations.

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How were the values
determined?
(x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2 Find: Side Square root of N
a c Choose a regular value a
close to but less then the
desired result.
Setting b = N - a2
a2 ac
N The next step is to find c so
that 2ac + c2 is as close as
possible to b.
ac c2 ac
If a2 is close enough to N,
then c2 will be small in
b relation to 2ac and so c can
be chosen to equal
That is : N  a 2  b  a  ( 1 / 2 )b( 1 / a ). (1/2)b(1/a)

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Similarly,

a 2  b  a  ( 1 / 2 )b( 1 / a )
In the particular case of square root of 2, begin with a = 1;20
(=4/3). Then a2 = 1;46,40, b=0;13,20, and 1/a = 0;45, so square
root of 2 = the square root of 1;46,40 +0;13,20 approximately 1;20
+ (0;30)(0;13,20)(0;4) = 1;20 + 0;05 = 1;25 (or 17/12

(1;25)2 differs from 2 by only 0;0,25 = 1/144

Main Slide 2

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Pythagorean Theorem

 In any right triangle the sum of the areas

of he squares of the legs equals the area
of the square of the hypotenuse.
 Named after the sixth century BCE Greek
philosopher-mathematician.
 Arguably the most important elementary
theorem in mathematics.

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Pythagorean Triples from
Plimton 322
(d/y)2 x d # y
1.9834028 119 169 1 120
1.9491586 3367 4825 2 3456
1.9188021 4601 6649 3 4800
1.8862479 12,709 18,541 4 13,500
1.8150077 65 97 5 72
1.7851929 319 481 6 360
1.7199837 2291 3541 7 2700
1.6845877 799 1249 8 960
1.6426694 481 769 9 600
1.5861226 4961 8161 10 6480
1.5625 45 75 11 60
1.4894168 1679 2929 12 2400
1.4500174 161 289 13 240
1.4302388 1771 3229 14 2700
1.3871605 28 53 15 45

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(d/y)2 x d # y
The columns headed with x and d
1.9834028 119 169 1 120
can be translated as square-side of
1.9491586 3367 4825 2 3456
the short side and the square side
1.9188021 4601 6649 3 4800
of the diagonal.
1.8862479 12,709 18,541 4 13,500
1.8150077 65 97 5 72 Try subtracting a square of column
1.7851929 319 481 6 360 x from the square of column d.
1.7199837 2291 3541 7 2700
This gives rise to a result which is a
1.6845877 799 1249 8 960
perfect square.
1.6426694 481 769 9 600
1.5861226 4961 8161 10 6480 It is indicated in the added column
1.5625 45 75 11 60 y
1.4894168 1679 2929 12 2400
The first column of the left
1.4500174 161 289 13 240
represents the quotient of (d/y)2
1.4302388 1771 3229 14 2700
1.3871605 28 53 15 45

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How and why are these
triples derived?
 Considering that these triples where
written at a particular time and place
probably in Larsa around 1800 BCE, an
understanding of its construction and
meaning must come from an
understanding of the context of the time
and how mathematical tablets were
written.

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How and why are these
triples derived?
 Note: The first column in the Babylonian table is
virtually always written in numerical order (either
ascending or descending), while subsequent columns
depend on those to their left.

 The label in the top (d/y)2 means the holding square of

the diagonal from which 1 is torn out so that the short
side comes up.

 The 1 in the heading indicates that the scribe is dealing

with reciprocal pairs.

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 Relating reciprocals to
Pythagorean Triples
Finding integer solution to the equation
x2 + y2 = d2
(dividing by y) (x/y)2 + 1 = (d/y)2
(Setting u to x/y and v to d/y) u2 + 1 = v 2
(v+u) (v-u) = 1

That is we can think of v+u and v-u as the sides of the

rectangle whose area is 1.
illustration

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Relating reciprocals to
Pythagorean Triples
v+u  Split of from this rectangle one with
sides u and v – u and move it to the
bottom left after the rotation of 90
degrees
v-u
 The Resulting figure is an L-Shaped
v-u u u figure usually called a gnomon, with
long sides both equal to v, a figure
that is the difference of v2 – u2 = 1 of
two squares.

 Note: This square whose area,

v v2 = (d/y)2, is the entry in the left most
column in the table from tablet Plimton
322 has a gnomon area 1 torn out so
u that the remaining square is the
square on the short side, as the
u original column heading says.

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Calculating the entries in
the Table
 It is possible that:
 The scribe began with the value v + u
 Then he found its reciprocal v – u in a table
 He then solve for u = ½ [(v+u) – (v-u)]
 The first column in the table is then the value 1 + u2
 Since u, 1, and v satisfy the Pythagorean identity,
the scribe could find a corresponding Pythagorean
triple by multiplying each of these values by a
suitable number y, (one chosen to eliminate
fractional values.
 example

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Example
v + u = 2;15 (=2 ¼)
(the reciprocal) v – u = 0;26,40 (=4/9)
(the scribe then find u) u = 0;54,10 = 65/72

We can find u by taking half the sum of v + u and v – u, but the scribe
found b as square root of 1 + u2 = the square root of 1;48,54,01,40
and is then equal to 1;20,50 or square root of 1 + u2 = to 1.8150077
= 1 25/72. Multiplying the values for u, v and 1 by 1, 12 = 72 gives
the values 65 and 97 for x and d respectively. (shown in line 5 of
the Plimton Table as well as the value 72 for y. Conversely, the
value of v + u for line 1 of the Plimton Table can be found by adding
169/120 (=1;24,30) and 119/120 (=0;59,30) to get 288/120 (=2;24)

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Why were the particular
Pythagorean triples on
Plimton 322 chosen?
 Knowing the answer is definitively impossible.
 It is noticeable that if we calculate the values of v + u
for every line of the tablet they form a decreasing
sequence of regular sexagesimal numbers of no more
than four places from 2;24 to 1;48.
 Notice as well that not all numbers are included there
are five missing. Probably because that scribe may
have decided that the table is long enough without
them.
 Remarkably it is evident that the scribes were well
aware of the Pythagorean relationship.

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BM 85196
 A beam of length 30 stands against a wall. The
upper end slipped down a distance 6. How far
did the lower end move?

 This implies d = 30 and y = 24 are the given.

We are suppose find for x.

 The scribe calculates x using the theorem x =

square root of 302 -242 = square root of 324 =
18

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 A tablet found in Susa in
modern Iran
 The problem is to calculate the radius
of a circle circumscribed about in an
isosceles triangle with altitude 40 and
base 60.

 Considering the circumscribed triangle 40 A

ABC, whose hypotenuse is the desired
r
radius, the scribed derived the equation
r2 = 302 + (40 – r )2 from the C
Pythagorean Theorem. He then B
calculated that 1,20r = 302 + 402 =
41,40 and, using reciprocals, that
r – (0;0,45)(42,40) = 31;15.

END
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