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<article article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xml:lang="ru"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">ellibs</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title xml:lang="ru">Электронные библиотеки</journal-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="en"><trans-title>Russian Digital Libraries Journal</trans-title></trans-title-group></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="epub">1562-5419</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.26907/1562-5419-2019-22-6-763-768</article-id><article-id custom-type="elpub" pub-id-type="custom">ellibs-172</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="section-heading" xml:lang="ru"><subject>Статьи</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>Egyptian Fractions Re-Revisited</article-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="en"><trans-title>Egyptian Fractions Re-Revisited</trans-title></trans-title-group></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><name-alternatives><name name-style="eastern" xml:lang="ru"><surname>Kosheleva</surname><given-names>O.</given-names></name><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Kosheleva</surname><given-names>O.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><email xlink:type="simple">olgak@utep.edu</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><name-alternatives><name name-style="eastern" xml:lang="ru"><surname>Kreinovich</surname><given-names>V.</given-names></name><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Kreinovich</surname><given-names>V.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><email xlink:type="simple">vladik@utep.edu</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><name-alternatives><name name-style="eastern" xml:lang="ru"><surname>Zapata</surname><given-names>F.</given-names></name><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Zapata</surname><given-names>F.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><email xlink:type="simple">fcozpt@outlook.com</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff xml:lang="en" id="aff-1"><institution>University of Texas at El Paso</institution><country>Russian Federation</country></aff><pub-date pub-type="collection"><year>2019</year></pub-date><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>28</day><month>12</month><year>2019</year></pub-date><volume>22</volume><issue>6</issue><fpage>763</fpage><lpage>768</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright &amp;#x00A9; Kosheleva O., Kreinovich V., Zapata F., 2019</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2019</copyright-year><copyright-holder xml:lang="ru">Kosheleva O., Kreinovich V., Zapata F.</copyright-holder><copyright-holder xml:lang="en">Kosheleva O., Kreinovich V., Zapata F.</copyright-holder><license xml:lang="ru" license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.</license-p></license><license xml:lang="en" license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.</license-p></license></permissions><self-uri xlink:href="https://ellibs.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/172">https://ellibs.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/172</self-uri><trans-abstract xml:lang="en"><p>Ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions, i.e., fractions of the type 1/n. In our previous papers, we explained that this representation makes perfect sense: e.g., it leads to an efficient way of dividing loaves of bread between people. However, one thing remained unclear: why, when representing fractions of the type 2/(2k+1), Egyptians did not use a natural representation 1/(2k+1)+1/(2k+1), but used a much more complicated representation instead. In this paper, we show that the need for such a complicated representation can be explained if we take into account that instead of cutting a rectangular-shaped loaf in one direction – as we considered earlier – we can simultaneously cut it in two orthogonal directions. For example, to cut a loaf into 6 pieces, we can cut in 2 pieces in one direction and in 3 pieces in another direction. Together, these cuts will divide the original loaf into 2 * 3 = 6 pieces. It is known that Egyptian fractions are an exciting topics for kids, helping them better understand fractions. In view of this fact, we plan to use our new explanation to further enhance this understanding.</p></trans-abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>Egyptian fractions</kwd><kwd>teaching fractions</kwd><kwd>history of mathematics</kwd></kwd-group></article-meta></front><back><ref-list><title>References</title></ref-list><fn-group><fn fn-type="conflict"><p>The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.</p></fn></fn-group></back></article>
