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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Cardano and the Solution of the Cubic.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Hippocrates's great advance to mathematics?
(a) He showed how to square a circle.
(b) He showed how to simplify the area of a triangle.
(c) He showed how to find the angles in a right triangle.
(d) He showed how to square a figure with curved sides.

2. How did Archimedes demonstrate his theory of pi?
(a) He demonstrated that the area of the circle is never equal to the area of the triangle.
(b) He demonstrated that the area of the circle is neither greater than nor less than the area of the triangle and therefore must be equal to it.
(c) He demonstrated that the area of the circle is never less than the area of the triangle.
(d) He demonstrated that the area of the circle is always greater than the area of the triangle.

3. Which of the following was true about Cardano, according to Dunham?
(a) He was a priest.
(b) He was jailed for heresy.
(c) He had three wives.
(d) He was not a mathematician.

4. As described by Dunham, what did Archimedes demonstrate first in his proof on pi?
(a) Area of a circle is equal to that of a right triangle that has one leg equal to the circle's diameter and the other leg equal to the circle's circumference.
(b) Area of a circle is equal to that of a right triangle that has one leg equal to the circle's radius and the other leg equal to the circle's diameter.
(c) Area of a circle is equal to that of a right triangle that has one leg equal to the circle's hypotenuse and the other leg equal to the circle's circumference.
(d) Area of a circle is equal to that of a right triangle that has one leg equal to the circle's radius and the other leg equal to the circle's circumference.

5. Who asked Tartaglia for his solution to cubic equations?
(a) Fior,
(b) Fontana.
(c) Pacioli.
(d) Cardano.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Euclid, when is a triangle a right triangle?

2. Who wrote a treatise that supposed that cubic equations may be impossible to solve?

3. Which is a geometric concept that humans have been aware of since the dawn of agriculture?

4. In what century did Archimedes live?

5. How many sides did the pentadecagon have, as presented by Euclid?

(see the answer key)

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