Origins of Two Familiar Math Terms

2015-03-30T19:28:08Z

Josh Strong:

In the 800's the mathematician Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote, among other works, two books on the subjects of arithmetic and algebra. In the book, ''Concerning the Hindu Art of Reckoning'', al-Khwarizmi used the Hindu numeral system. However, European readers inaccurately consider the number system as Arabic numerals. The use of Hindu numerals became known as '''algorithm''', derived from the name al-Khwarizmi. Today, the word algorithm is used for any process or procedure.

Al-Khwarizmi's other book, ''The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing'', contained a method known as '''al-jabr'''. This is the method of removing negative amounts from an equation by adding that amount to each side. That is, for <math style="vertical-align:-5%">x^2 = x- 2x^2</math> one would apply al-jabr by adding <math style="vertical-align:-5%">2x^2</math> to both sides to get <math style="vertical-align:-5%">3x^2 = x</math>. The term '''algebra''' is derived from the word al-jabr.

Origins of Two Familiar Math Terms

2015-03-30T19:04:10Z

Josh Strong: Created page with "In the 800's the mathematician Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote, among other works, two books on the subjects of arithmetic and algebra. In the book, ''Concern..."

In the 800's the mathematician Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote, among other works, two books on the subjects of arithmetic and algebra. In the book, ''Concerning the Hindu Art of Reckoning'', al-Khwarizmi used the Hindu numeral system. However, European readers inaccurately consider the number system as Arabic numerals. The use of Hindu numerals became known as '''algorithm''', derived from the name al-Khwarizmi. Today, the word algorithm is used for any process or procedure.

Al-Khwarizmi's other book, ''The Compendoius Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing'', contained a method known as '''al-jabr'''. This is the method of removing negative amounts from an equation by adding that amount to each side. That is, for <math style="vertical-align:0%">x^2 = x- 2x^2</math> one would apply al-jabr by adding <math style="vertical-align:0%">2x^2</math> to both sides to get <math style="vertical-align:0%">3x^2 = x</math>. The term '''algebra''' is derived from the word al-jabr.

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Origins of Two Familiar Math Terms

Origins of Two Familiar Math Terms