Al-Hassar
Al Hassar was believed to have lived during
the 12th century. He specialized in Islamic
Inheritance Jurisprudence and was from the
Maghreb (region of North Africa). It was
believed that he taught mathematics in the city
of Septa, located in Africa.
He is known to develop the modern symbol for
fractions, which is the use of a horizontal line
(―) where the numerator and denominator are
separated.
1. Book of Demonstration and Memorization:
Calculation manual dealing with arithmetical
operations on whole numbers.
2. Complete Book on the Art of Numbers:
It discusses about the breakdown of a number
into prime factors, on common divisors and on
common multiples.
* Only 1 of the 2 volumes presently exists.
--- Information from the encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Al Hassar enjoyed breaking down whole
numbers to create equivalent forms, fractions.
1. Identify the fractional pattern in the left hand column.
Continue the pattern using fractional names.
2. In each row, use the colour markers provided to shade in the
desired number of boxes:
*Column 1 and 2  colour one box
*Column 3 and 4 colour two boxes
*Column 5 and 6 colour three boxes
*Column 7, 8, and 9 colour five boxes
3. Write, in the right hand column, the fractional form of what
your coloured boxes represent.
4. Identify any equivalent fractions found on your handout.
Write in your own words (discussing with shoulder
partners) a definition of Equivalent Fractions, and
draw a picture of equivalent fractions.