Pascal's Triangle combinations : algebra : probability : binomial theorem : roots Introduction to Pascal's Triangle Mathematics is the language of science. Something that may be difficult to picture, may be easy to understand mathematically. A mathematical equation may take up a single line whereas the same thing written in words may take up a large paragraph. In this essay I'd like to introduce some clever ways of doing algebra and of calculations using a simple calculator. By simple calculator I mean one that does only the basics (plus, minus, multiply and divide). At the end, you should be able to calculate quite difficult roots with this calculator. Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662) was a French mathematician. His surname is used as the unit of pressure. One of his sayings was to note that 'had Cleopatra's nose been differently shaped, the history of the world would have been different'. He is most famous for the triangle named after him, Pascal's Triangle . In fact, the triangle was known to both the Chinese and the Arabs for several hundred years previously. It is not a geometrical triangle but a triangle of numbers. Here it is below: | |
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