History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v2.c17.s7.10

v2.c17.s7.10

In the particular case (1) the author³ assumes the arbitrary value 5 for x₁; then are successively calculated the values x'₂ = 8, x'₃ = 6 and x'₃ + x'₁ = 11. The correct values are, therefore, $x₁ = 5 + (15 - 11)/2 = 7, x₂ = 6, x₃ = 8.$