Converting to unit fractions
I was just reading about the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. Apparently the ancient Egyptians had a table of 2 divided by all the odd numbers between 3 and 101, expressed as the sum of unit fractions. Can anyone think of an algorithm for this?
A unit fraction is a fraction of the form 
; so for example 
.
Possibly relevant posts:
- Mathematical Fads (12/2/2005)
- Kronecker’s Method of Factoring Polynomials over
![\Q[x]](/cz/latexrender/pictures/301e2bb0b6e9646cb427f264378415c9.png "\Q[x]")
(2/19/2005) - Continued Fractions (2/1/2004)
The Egyptians would further find it nonsensical to express 2/5 as 1/5 + 1/5, believing that there could only be one ‘fifth part’
Comment by Ronald — 12/22/2004 @ 4:28 pm