Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes/Problems/28 - De Civitate Triangula/Historical Note

Historical Note on Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes by Alcuin of York: Problem $28$: De Civitate Triangula

According to the Roman formula the area of the triangle is $4500$ square feet.

This is $22 \frac 1 2$ house areas.

The actual area is approximately $4019$ square feet, which is just over $20$ house areas.

The marking down of $45$ to $40$ in the calculation may be an attempt to compensate for the inaccuracy of the formula.

However, fitting them into a triangle is not easy.

David Singmaster reports that he managed to fit $15$ in.

John Hadley, on the other hand, managed $18$, but bent the walls of some of the houses slightly.

Sources

• 1992: John Hadley/2 and David Singmaster: Problems to Sharpen the Young (Math. Gazette Vol. 76, no. 475: pp. 102 – 126)  www.jstor.org/stable/3620384