Commentary: Unit (Egyptian) Fractions

 

            I think that one of the main reasons why fractions are so hard for students is that they involve the relationship between the two variables, the numerator and the denominator.  Fix one of these variables, and fractions are a lot easier.  Starting with unit fractions fixes the numerator at one, but leads to problems that are by no means trivial.  This sheet connections the doubles table from the Ahmed (Rhine) Papyrus and color tile manipulatives (copies of the table in hieratic notation can be found in many history of mathematics books  I used The Historical Roots of Elementary Mathematics, from Dover Publications; using the tables in their original notation is fun).  8/05

 

 

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