ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Rhind Mathematical Papyrus

Okay kiddo, today we're talking about something called the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. It's a really old piece of paper that was found in Egypt a long time ago, and it has a bunch of really interesting math problems written on it.

Now, when we say "math problems," we don't mean like the kind of math you do in school (unless you're a really smart 5-year-old!). These problems were more about things like how to divide up land, measure the height of a pyramid, and figure out how many cakes you can make with a certain amount of flour.

The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus was written by someone who lived in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, around the time of the pharaohs. They didn't have calculators or computers like we do today, so they had to rely on their brains and some really clever math tricks to solve these problems.

One of the coolest things about the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus is that it shows us just how smart people were even way back then. They were able to figure out really complicated things using just simple tools like a piece of paper and a writing tool (kind of like a pencil!).

So, while the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus might not be something you'll use in your everyday life, it's still a really important piece of history that shows us how people have been using math to solve problems for thousands of years.