# Problems from Another Time

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

A certain merchant increases the value of his estate by 1/3...
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?
Find the greatest value of y in the equation a4 x2= (x2 + y2)3.
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?
A square walled city of unknown dimensions has four gates, one at the center of each side.
The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.
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?
There are two piles, one containing 9 gold coins, the other 11 silver coins.
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.
How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students