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Writing a rational number in Egyptian form

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Astrid Bönning ,
Peter Hilton  and
Jean Pedersen
Astrid Bönning
Affiliation:
Sigmund-Schuckert-Gymnasium, Nürnberg 90451, Nürnberg, Germany email: [email protected]
Peter Hilton
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Sciences, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902-6000, USA email: [email protected]
Jean Pedersen
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California 95053-0290, USA email: [email protected]
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Extract

A rational number is said to be expressed in Egyptian form (or Egyptian presentation) if it is written as a sum of fractions where each fraction has the numerator 1 and all of the denominators are distinct. The individual terms of die sum are often referred to as unit fractions. The problem of finding such expressions, and many related questions, has a long history, apparently beginning with Ahmes in the Rhind Papyrus. It is for this reason that we talk of ‘Egyptian’ form.

Type
Articles
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 86 , Issue 507 , November 2002 , pp. 432 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 2002

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