Proposition: Prop. 10.058: Root of Area contained by Rational Straight Line and Fifth Binomial

Euclid's Formulation

If an area is contained by a rational (straight line) and a fifth binomial (straight line) then the square root of the area is the irrational (straight line which is) called the square root of a rational plus a medial (area) .

Modern Formulation

If the rational straight line has unit length then this proposition states that the square root of a fifth binomial straight line is the square root of a rational plus a medial area: i.e., a fifth binomial straight line has a length \[\alpha\,(\sqrt{1+\beta}+1)\] whose square root can be written \[\rho\,\sqrt{\frac{\sqrt{1+\delta^{2}}+\delta}{2\,(1+\delta^{2})}}+\rho\,\sqrt{\frac{\sqrt{1+\delta^{2}}-\delta}{2\,(1+\delta^{2})}},\] where \[\rho=\sqrt{\alpha\,(1+\delta^{2})}\quad\text{ and }\quad\delta^{2}=\beta.\] This is the length of the square root of a rational plus a medial area (see [Prop. 10.40]), since $\rho, \delta,\alpha,\beta$ are all positive rational numbers.

Proofs: 1

Proofs: 1
Propositions: 2


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References

Adapted from (subject to copyright, with kind permission)

  1. Fitzpatrick, Richard: Euclid's "Elements of Geometry"

Adapted from CC BY-SA 3.0 Sources:

  1. Prime.mover and others: "Pr∞fWiki", https://proofwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page, 2016