Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Episode 9: Finding the Missing Value

When Scheherazade paused the King asked,” Is there more to this tale?”

"Yes," chimed in Dunazad, "Tell us how the Royal Goldsmith was tortured."

Scheherazade gave her sister a dirty look. “There is still an epilogue I might relate, but it involves math."

"Forget that," said Dunazad and yawning got up and went to her room."

"Continue," said the Sultan.

After answering the King's question Archimedes sat looking at the one pound cubes of Gold, Lead, Silver and Copper. He decided to take their measurements to determine exactly how different in size they were from one another. When he finished he knew the volume of the cubes as well as their weight.

“Hmmmm, he thought to himself. Many things in the physical science are related and using a marvelous mathematical process, called Algebra, it was possible to calculate an unknown value if two of the three were known. Following the thread he reasoned that if the weight and dimensions were known the third, which he named Density, could be determined. To do this he came up with the formula, Density equals Weight divided by Volume. So he took the weights (l pound) and divided it by the volume of each cube and came up with the following numbers.

Copper had a density of 8.96, Silver10.49, Lead 11.36 and Gold 19.32. The higher the number showed the greater the density.

"Very interesting," said the Sultan. "Gold has almost twice the density as Silver. This is a much more precise than water dribbling over the lip of a container."

"Yes," his wife answered, "Mathematics is much more exact a way than casual observation."

"But what amazes me most," said the king, "is how using Algebra, one can determine the missing value in a relationship of three, when two of the values are known."

"I love mathematics," said Scheherazade, "because it dispenses with ambiguity and there is usually only one correct answer.

"Do you suppose that mathematics would work in the metaphysical world as it does in the physical?"

"For that you have to ask my father," she answered, "for he is the greatest mathematician in the realm."

"That is exactly what I intend to do," said the King yawning. "Now lets try and get some sleep before the dawn comes."