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Babylonians

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=The babylonians divided the day into 24 hours, hours into 60 minutes and minutes into 60 seconds. Ever sense that day 4000 years ago the 24 hour day has been completely successful. It is often claimed that the Babylonians (about 400 BC) were the first to solve quadratic equations. Squares equal to roots. Squares equal to numbers. Roots equal to numbers. Squares and roots equal to numbers, e.g. x **2**  + 10x = 39. Squares and numbers equal to roots, e.g. x**2**  + 21 = 10x.Roots and numbers equal to squares, e.g. 3x + 4 = x **2** . =  =While the Egyptians had the first functional system of numerals and basic mathematics, surely a great amount of credit for modern mathematics should go to the ancient people of the Mesopatamian region (that is the Babylonians, located around present-day Iraq). =

=Beginning as early as the Sumerian period(3000-1100 B.C.), which seems to be the same period of the introduction of mathematics into the Ancient Kingdom of Egypt, there is evidence that these early Mesopatamian civilizations had developed a system of sexagesimal numerals (base-60, which is still used for modern timekeeping and circle geometry). =



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1. Suppose a farmer has /come ask me/ yards of fencing to enclose a rectangular field. What is the largest area that the farmer can enclose? (10 points)

2. The owner of a ranch decides to enclose a rectangular region with /come ask me/ feet of fencing. To help the fencing cover more land, he plans to use one side of his barn as part of the enclosed region. What is the maximum area the rancher can enclose? (10 points)

3. A farmer wishes to enclose a rectangular region bordering a river using /come ask me/ feet of fencing. He wants to divide the region into two equal parts using some of the fence material. What is the maximum area that can be enclosed with the fencing? (10 points)