Which adjustment was required for astronomical calculations when quadratic equations based on spherical trigonometry (c. 1000 CE) produced extraneous roots?

💡 Explanation

Extraneous roots frequently arose in medieval astronomical calculations using quadratic equations because squaring introduces solutions with reversed signs. Therefore, only the geometrically sensible/physical solution was taken, rather than trusting algebra implicitly when it conflicted to the geometric/physical bounds.

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