| Advanced Math |
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| Question : |
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What are 'Quarter Squares' ? |
Answer : |
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The product of two numbers is equal to the difference of one-fourth the squares of their sum and their difference : |
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(1/4)(a + b)2 - (1/4)(a - b)2. |
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This fact has been used to reduce multiplication to addition with
the aid of tables of quarter squares. The method is very old. There are many tables of quarter squares and the most
extensive table lists quarter squares of integers upto 200,000. The method is very useful and economical. |
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Tables of quarter squares have been devised to save labor in multiplying numbers. |
