Page:The Algebra of Mohammed Ben Musa (1831).djvu/29

 six and a quarter. Extract its root; it is two and a half. Add this to the moiety of the roots, which was one and a half; the sum is four. This is the root of the square, and the square is sixteen.

Whenever you meet with a multiple or sub-multiple of a square, reduce it to one entire square.

These are the six cases which I mentioned in the introduction to this book. They have now been explained. I have shown that three among them do not require that the roots be halved, and I have taught how they must be resolved. As for the other three, in which halving the roots is necessary, I think it expedient, more accurately, to explain them by separate chapters, in which a figure will be given for each case, to point out the reasons for halving.

The figure to explain this a quadrate, the sides of which are unknown. It represents the square, the which, or the root of which, you wish to know. This is the figure A B, each side of which may be considered as one of its roots; and if you multiply one of these sides by any number, then the amount of that number may be looked upon as the number of the roots which are added to the square. Each side of the quadrate represents the root of the square; and, as in the instance,