And it is equal to DH; therefore DH is also medial. And it has been applied to the rational straight line DI, producing DF as breadth; therefore DF is rational and incommensurable in length with DI. [X. 22] And, since AB, BC are commensurable in square only, therefore AB is incommensurable in length with BC; therefore the square on AB is also incommensurable with the rectangle AB, BC. [X. 11] But the squares on AB, BC are commensurable with the square on AB, [X. 15] and twice the rectangle AB, BC is commensurable with the rectangle AB, BC; [X. 6] therefore twice the rectangle AB, BC is incommensurable with the squares on AB, BC. [X. 13] But DE is equal to the squares on AB, BC, and DH to twice the rectangle AB, BC; therefore DE is incommensurable with DH. But, as DE is to DH, so is GD to DF; [VI. 1] therefore GD is incommensurable with DF. [X. 11] And both are rational; therefore GD, DF are rational straight lines commensurable in square only; therefore FG is an apotome. [X. 73] But DI is rational, and the rectangle contained by a rational and an irrational straight line is irrational, [deduction from X. 20] and its ’side’ is irrational. And AC is the ’side’ of FE; therefore AC is irrational. And let it be called a second apotome of a medial straight line. Q. E. D.
And it is equal to DH; therefore DH is also medial. And it has been applied to the rational straight line DI, producing DF as breadth; therefore DF is rational and incommensurable in length with DI. [X. 22] And, since AB, BC are commensurable in square only, therefore AB is incommensurable in length with BC; therefore the square on AB is also incommensurable with the rectangle AB, BC. [X. 11] But the squares on AB, BC are commensurable with the square on AB, [X. 15] and twice the rectangle AB, BC is commensurable with the rectangle AB, BC; [X. 6] therefore twice the rectangle AB, BC is incommensurable with the squares on AB, BC. [X. 13] But DE is equal to the squares on AB, BC, and DH to twice the rectangle AB, BC; therefore DE is incommensurable with DH. But, as DE is to DH, so is GD to DF; [VI. 1] therefore GD is incommensurable with DF. [X. 11] And both are rational; therefore GD, DF are rational straight lines commensurable in square only; therefore FG is an apotome. [X. 73] But DI is rational, and the rectangle contained by a rational and an irrational straight line is irrational, [deduction from X. 20] and its ’side’ is irrational. And AC is the ’side’ of FE; therefore AC is irrational. And let it be called a second apotome of a medial straight line. Q. E. D.
Euclid. Euclid's Elements. Sir Thomas Little Heath. New York. Dover. 1956.
The National Science Foundation provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.