Ptolemy's Table of Chords
Have you ever asked yourself, how does a calculator compute the sine of an angle? This portion of the task is intended to help you to develop an appreciation for the perseverance of historical mathematicians and the amount of dedication and labor it took to produce findings that we now simply push the button on a calculator to find. Your task is to create a multimedia presentation that describes the process that Ptolemy used to develop his Table of Chords. You are being provided with a wealth of resources but your presentation cannot include things that you simply cut and paste into PowerPoints, Prezi's, Screencasts or whatever option you choose to make your presentation. If diagrams are included, they must be constructed in Geogebra and the file you create should be in the livebinder subtab Ptolemy's Table of Chords. You must be able to explain each of the following concepts:
- The sexagesimal number system
- Interpolation
- How the diameter of 120 was chosen