# Problems from Another Time

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

A merchant bought 50,000 pounds of pepper in Portugal for 10,000 scudi and paid a tax of 500 scudi.
I owe a man the following notes: one of $800 due May 16; one of$660 due on July 1; one of $940 due Sept. 29. He wishes to exchange them for two notes of$1200 each and wants one to fall due June 1. When should the other be due?
Find a number having remainder 29 when divided by 30 and remainder 3 when divided by 4.
A certain man had in his trade four weights with which he could weigh integral pounds from one up to 40. How many pounds was each weight?
Given a right triangle where you know the length of the base and the sum of the perpendicular side and the hypotenuse.

The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.
If 40 oranges are worth 60 apples, and 75 apples are worth 7 dozen peaches, and 100 peaches are worth 1 box of grapes and three boxes of grapes are worth 40 pounds of pecans, how many peaches can be bought for 100 oranges?
Three people buy wood together. One pays the merchant 5 coins, another 3 coins, and the last 2 coins.
One hundred men besieged in a castle, have sufficient food to allow each one bread to the weight of 14 lot a day for ten months.
Discussion of 15th century French manuscript, with translation of its problems, including one with negative solutions