Why is 'X' the unknown?
In algebra, we are probably asked to find the 'X'. And not only in mathematics, but also in our daily life, the English alphabet 'X' is associated with something unknown. The 'X-ray', 'Project X' etc. But why is that the letter 'X' is used to represent something unknown?
The answer to this lies in the history. Mathematics was originally an Arabic concept and so was algebra. When algebra became popular in Europe, and especially a big country called Spain, all Arabic texts were translated to Spanish.
In Arabic, 'something' is pronounced as 'Shayun'. And when this word was translated to Spanish, there were problems as Spanish doesn't have a word for the sound "sh". Thus the word 'something' couldn't be rendered into spanish.
Then, this 'something' began to be represented as the letter 'Kai' in Spanish which looks just like a stylish 'X'. And later when ancient Spanish texts related to math were translated, 'Kai' evolved to the common alphabet 'X'.
So basically, we use 'X' for the unknown b ecause Spanish doesn't have a sound for 'sh'!!!
Posts before October 2021 have been marked as "Old Posts". Less likely, but they might have out dated or incorrect information, ugly looking bits of code, no labels, etc. Don't get me wrong, many of these posts are top-notch and interesting too.
I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!
I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!
Old Post