Elementary arithmetic, with brief notices of its history... by Robert Potts.

12 sack of 3 bushels, and the chaldron of 12 sacks; they are now measured by weight, the ton being employed as the unit of weight. MEASURES OF LIQUID SUBSTANCES. Ale, Beer, fc. 2 pints are equal to 1 quart 4 quarts,, 1 gallon 9 gallons,, 1 firkin 2 firkins,, 1 kilderkin 2 kilderkins,, 1 barrel 3 kilderkins,, 1 hogshead 2 hogsheads,, 1 butt. Wines, Spirits, ic. 2 pints are equal to 1 quart 4 quarts,, 1 gallon 63 gallons,, I hogshead 2 hogsheads,, 1 pipe 2 pipes,, 1 tun. There were other measures of wine in use, such as the anker of 10 gallons, the runlet of 18, the tierce of 42, and the puncheon of 84. Any quantity expressed in terms of a larger unit of measure, can also be expressed in terms of a smaller unit which is some subdivision of that measure, and conversely. The units of larger magnitude are changed to units of smaller magnitude of the same kind by multiplying the number of larger units by the number of smaller which make one of the larger; and conversely, the units of smaller magnitude are changed to those of a larger of the same kind by dividing the smaller by as many of the smaller as make one of the larger. ANGULAR AND CIRCULAR MEASURES. 8. The invention of the sexagesimal division of the circumference of the circle is attributed to Ptolemy by his commentator Theon, but it is clear from the language of Ptolemy himself that this mode of division was known long before his time. It is more probable that the improvement made by Ptolemy was the extension of that mode of division to the radius or the chord of a circle which subtends an arc equal to onesixth of the whole circumference. It has been conjectured that the division of the circumference of a circle into 360 equal parts was suggested by the fact that the sun appears to move once round the whole circle of the heaven in the. period of about 360 days; but whether this or the converse be the truth, it is quite impossible to affirm. This division of the circumference has come down from very early times. Angles are measured by the arcs of circles. If a circle be described with any radius from the angular point as a centre, the arc intercepted between the lines which contain the angle may be assumed to be the

/ 389
Pages

Actions

file_download Download Options Download this page PDF - Pages 8-27 Image - Page 8 Plain Text - Page 8

About this Item

Title
Elementary arithmetic, with brief notices of its history... by Robert Potts.
Author
Potts, Robert, 1805-1885.
Canvas
Page 8
Publication
London,: Relfe bros.,
1876.
Subject terms
Arithmetic

Technical Details

Link to this Item
https://name.umdl.umich.edu/abu7012.0001.001
Link to this scan
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/u/umhistmath/abu7012.0001.001/205

Rights and Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials are in the public domain in the United States. If you have questions about the collection, please contact Historical Mathematics Digital Collection Help at [email protected]. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact Library Information Technology at [email protected].

DPLA Rights Statement: No Copyright - United States

Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/api/manifest/umhistmath:abu7012.0001.001

Cite this Item

Full citation
"Elementary arithmetic, with brief notices of its history... by Robert Potts." In the digital collection University of Michigan Historical Math Collection. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/abu7012.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 8, 2025.
Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.