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Tetractys
The tetractys is a Pythagorean figure that shows the number 10.
Explanation
The number 10 was the symbol of the completion for the ancient Greeks. With points you can draw this number as a triangle.
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1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10
If you begin with 1 point and add more and more rows you get the tetractys, but of course you can continue even further.
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11 + 2 = 3 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10 1 + 2 + 3 +4 + 5 = 15
HistoryThe old Greek mathematician Pythagoras (572 BC - 500 BC) is famous for his number theory. |