Fractions in Old Algebra Book


Thursday, November 23, 1911: Am working at my algebra in the evening so I can make a better mark than I did last month. If it isn’t any better I will be beyond all hope.

 Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:


I’m not sure what Grandma was working on in November—but in one early 20th century algebra book—Durrell’s School Algebra, the chapter after L.C.M. and H.C.F. was Fractions.

The book says:

In algebra, a fraction is often useful in expressing a general formula

Here are a couple of exercises from the book:

1. If three boys weigh a, b, c pounds respectively, what is their average weight?

2. If sugar is worth a cents a pound, how many pounds can be obtained in exchange for b pounds of butter worth c cents a pound?

3. If coal is worth c dollars a ton, how many tons can be obtained in exchange for f bushels of wheat worth h cents a bushel and for w bushels of corn worth y cents a bushel?

4 Responses

  1. Too many unknowns!!

  2. The answer? Alphabet soup!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  3. Yes, it’s an alphabet soup!

    I don’t have an answer key, but I think that the answers are:
    1. (a + b + c)/3
    2. ab/c
    3. fc/h + wc/y

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