Often asked: How Was Pascals Triangle Invented?

It is named for the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal, but it is far older. Chinese mathematician Jia Xian devised a triangular representation for the coefficients in the 11th century. The triangle can be constructed by first placing a 1 (Chinese “—”) along the left and right edges.

How did Pascal create Pascal’s triangle?

One of the most interesting Number Patterns is Pascal’s Triangle (named after Blaise Pascal, a famous French Mathematician and Philosopher). To build the triangle, start with “1” at the top, then continue placing numbers below it in a triangular pattern. Each number is the numbers directly above it added together.

Where did Pascal’s triangle originated?

Pascal’s triangle was known in China in the early 11th century through the work of the Chinese mathematician Jia Xian (1010–1070). In the 13th century, Yang Hui (1238–1298) presented the triangle and hence it is still called Yang Hui’s triangle (杨辉三角; 楊輝三角) in China.

Why did Blaise Pascal create Pascal’s triangle?

Pascal’s machine, also called la Pascaline, was inspired by his desire to help his father whose many duties as tax commissioner included the tedious work of calculating many numbers. Other results from Pascal’s triangle is the fact that the numbers in the diagonals of the triangle are the binomial coefficients.

Who investigated Pascal’s triangle 500 years before Pascal?

History of Pascal’s Triangle The earliest known person who studied this triangle was the Persian Mathematician Al-Karaji, who lived from 953-1029. He wrote a now lost book that contained the first description of Pascal’s Triangle.

What did Blaise Pascal invent?

Pascal invented the first digital calculator to help his father with his work collecting taxes. He worked on it for three years between 1642 and 1645. The device, called the Pascaline, resembled a mechanical calculator of the 1940s.

What is Pascal best known for?

Blaise Pascal was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, inventor, and theologian. In mathematics, he was an early pioneer in the fields of game theory and probability theory. In philosophy he was an early pioneer in existentialism.

When did Pascal discover Pascals triangle?

In 1653, a French mathematician-philosopher named Blaise Pascal described a triangular arrangement of numbers corresponding to the probabilities involved in flipping coins, or the number of ways to choose ‘n’ objects from a group of ‘m’ indistinguishable objects. Pascal’s triangle has many uses in binomial expansions.

Who is the father of triangle?

Many have speculated that the claims of the 5th-century BC Greek mathematician Pythagoras being the first to deduce facts about right-angled triangles just did not add up. Some believe later commentaries indicate it was the collaborative work of his followers, the Pythagoreans.

Is Pascal’s Triangle infinite?

Pascal’s triangle is a never-ending equilateral triangle of numbers that follow a rule of adding the two numbers above to get the number below. Two of the sides are “all 1’s” and because the triangle is infinite, there is no “bottom side.”

Who really invented Pascals triangle?

It is named for the 17th -century French mathematician Blaise Pascal, but it is far older. Chinese mathematician Jia Xian devised a triangular representation for the coefficients in the 11th century.

Did Blaise Pascal invent Pascal’s triangle?

Pascal’s Triangle is a special triangular arrangement of numbers used in many areas of mathematics. It is named after the famous 17 ^th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal because he developed so many of the triangle’s properties.

What is the Pascal triangle used for?

Pascal’s triangle is used widely in probability theory, combinatorics, and algebra. Generally, we can use Pascals’ triangle to find the coefficients of binomial expansion, to find the probability of heads and tails in a toss, in combinations of certain things, etc.

What did Yang Hui do?

Yang Hui was a Chinese mathematician who wrote several outstanding mathematical texts. These contained solutions of quadratic equations as well as Pascal’s triangle and magic squares.

How is Pascal’s triangle used in real life?

One real life situation that Pascal’s Triangle is used for is Probability, and combinations. We have situations like this all of the time. For example, say you are at an ice cream shop and they have 5 different ice creams. You want to know how many different ways you can pick two of the ice creams and eat them.

Who invented algebra?

Al-Khwarizmi: The Father of Algebra.