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Equation
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A mathematical statement that two expressions are equal, joined by an equals sign. Solving an equation means finding which values of its unknowns make the statement true, and the equals sign itself was invented only in 1557, well after equations had been written and solved for centuries using prose and other notations.
Facts
Origin Year1557 marks Robert Recorde's invention of the equals sign in The Whetstone of Witte, the origin of the modern written form of an equation; equations as mathematical statements, solved in prose and other notations, are centuries older, as the description notes. Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Equation (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction sectionQuote, Introduction section
The '=' symbol, which appears in every equation, was invented in 1557 by Robert Recorde, who considered that nothing could be more equal than parallel straight lines with the same length.
1. Equation (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIn Branch: Algebra, Lead sectionQuote, In Branch: Algebra, Lead section
Algebra studies two main families of equations: polynomial equations and, among them, the special case of linear equations.
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