《孫子算經卷下》 "Sun Tzŭ's Computational Classic: Volume III"
§2. Division determining a rate (1)

This section gives a word problem where division is used to determine a rate.

Translation

Chinese source text: Version A, Version B, Version C, Version D.
Unless noted otherwise, I follow the text from Version D, 《知不足齋叢書》本.

Source text Target text Notes
今有丁一千五百萬、出兵四十萬。問幾丁科一兵。 Suppose there be males one thousand five hundred myriad, [wherewith to] send forth soldiers forty myriad. [We] ask, [from] how many males levy [we] one soldier?
答曰、三十七丁五分。 Answer saith: thirty-seven males [and] five tenths.
術曰、置丁一千五百萬為實、以兵四十萬為法。實如法、即得。 Method saith: put [down the] males one thousand five hundred myriad as [the] dividend, [and] use [the] soldiers forty myriad as [the] divisor. [Taking the] dividend as [per the] divisor, [we] are done.
  • In modern notation,
    \frac{ 1500 \times 10^4 \unit{males} }{ 40 \times 10^4 \unit{soldiers} } = \frac{37.5 \unit{males}}{\unit{soldier}}.

Cite this page

Conway (2023). "Sun Tzŭ's Computational Classic: Volume III §2". <https://yawnoc.github.io/sun-tzu/iii/2> Accessed yyyy-mm-dd.