# Problems from Another Time

Individual problems from throughout mathematics history, as well as articles that include problem sets for students.

A farmer sold a team of horses for $440, but did not receive his pay for them until 1 yr, 8 mo after the sale. He had at the same time another offer of$410 for them. Did he gain or lose by the sale and by how much, money being worth 6%/yr?
I wish to find three numbers of such nature that the first and the second with 1/2 of the third makes 20...
There is a lion in a well whose depth is 50 palms. He climbs and slips back a certain amount each day. In how many days will he get out of the well?
The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.
Three people buy wood together. One pays the merchant 5 coins, another 3 coins, and the last 2 coins.
A father wills his estate valued at \$40, 000 to his three children. Before the settlement one of the children dies. What should the other two receive?
Of the two water reeds, the one grows 3 feet and the other 1 foot on the first day. The growth of the first becomes every day half of that of the preceding day, while the other grows twice as much as on the day before.
Discussion of 15th century French manuscript, with translation of its problems, including one with negative solutions
Find two numbers such that multiplying one by the other makes 8 and the sum of their squares is 27.
The cost per hour of running a certain steamboat is proportional to the cube of its velocity in still water. At what speed should it be run to make a trip up stream against a four-mile current most economically?