duplication of the cube

American  

noun

Geometry.

1. the insoluble problem of constructing a cube having twice the volume of a given cube, using only a ruler and compass.

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Etymology

Origin of duplication of the cube

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

Elementary works had been written, and the famous problem of the duplication of the cube reduced to the determination of two mean proportionals between two given straight lines.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 8 "Ethiopia" to "Evangelical Association" by Various

It would have been an agreeable task to review the history of circle squaring, of the trisection problem, and of the duplication of the cube.

From A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I by Smith, David Eugene

And so also was the duplication of the cube.

From The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1 by Webster, Daniel

The altar of Apollo, at Athens, was a square block, or cube, and to double it, required the duplication of the cube.

From The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1 by Webster, Daniel

He evolved an ingenious solution of the duplication of the cube, which shows considerable knowledge of the generation of cylinders and cones.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various