CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS By Marina García Lorenzo

Biography He was born 30 April 1777 in Brunswick, and died 23 February 1855 at age of 77 in Göttingen, Kingdom of Hanover. He was a German mathematician who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, algebra, statistics, astronomy, geophysics and other more. At the age of seven started elementary school, and his potential was noticed almost immediately. In 1788 Gauss began his education at the Gymnasium with the help of Büttner and Bartels, where he learnt High German and Latin. Then he entered Brunswick Collegium Carolinum and left it to study at Göttingen University. In 1799 he received a degree in Brunswick.

Biography Gauss married Johanna Ostoff on 9 October, After she died, he married again, to Johanna's best friend named Friederica Wilhelmine Waldeck but commonly known as Minna. He was an ardent perfectionist and a hard worker. He was never a prolific writer, refusing to publish work which he did not consider complete and above criticism.

ALGEBRA He was interested in algebra. Gauss proved the fundamental theorem of algebra which states that every non-constant single-variable polynomial with complex coefficients has at least one complex root. He also made important contributions to number theory with his 1801 book Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. He developed the theories of binary and ternary quadratic forms, stated the class number problem for them, and showed that a regular heptadecagon (17- sided polygon) can be constructed with straightedge and compass.

MATHS I CURRICULUM Gauss elimination method’s purpose is to find the solutions to a linear system. It is used to convert systems to an upper triangular form.

GAUSS ELIMINATION METHOD The fundamental idea is to add multiples of one equation to the others in order to eliminate a variable and to continue this process until only one variable is left. Once this final variable is determined, its value is substituted back into the other equations in order to evaluate the remaining unknowns.

GAUSS ELIMINATION METHOD It is easiest to illustrate this method with an example. Consider the system of equations. To solve for x, y, and z we must eliminate some of the unknowns from some of the equations. Consider adding -2 times the first equation to the second equation and also adding 6 times the first equation to the third equation. The result is

GAUSS ELIMINATION METHOD We have now eliminated the x term from the last two equations. Now simplify the last two equations by dividing by 2 and 3, respectively: To eliminate the y term in the last equation, multiply the second equation by -5 and add it to the third equation: The third equation says z=-2. Substituting this into the second equation yields y=-1. Using both of these results in the first equation gives x=3.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES h_Gauss and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Gauss.htm l and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Gauss.htm l guides/algebra/linear-algebra/linear- systems/gaussian-eliminationhttp:// guides/algebra/linear-algebra/linear- systems/gaussian-elimination lin6.htm