Friday, 13 April 2007

Two becomes One

I spotted this gem this morning (in a book about Pierre de Fermat doncha know). I am sure it is old, but I don’t remember seeing it before

Let a = b.
Then
a² = ab (since a = b)
add a² − 2ab to both sides (because you can)
a² + a² − 2ab = ab + a² − 2ab
simplify
2a² − 2ab = a² − ab
factor out a 2 on the left hand side
2(a² − ab) = a² − ab
The (a² − ab) cancel out
leaving
2 = 1
hahahaha

6 comments:

Unknown said...

tried a<sup>2&;lt/sup> ?

Unknown said...

wow, blogger's input box is hosed. I mean a(sup)2(/sup) but with HTML style brackets instead of ( )

Unknown said...

or to get the ² character.
hold down alt, and type 0178 on your num pad

Anonymous said...

But if a=b then 'a squared minus ab' is zero. So it's true:

2x0 = 1x0

Skywolf said...

Excellent stuff. I miss maths...

Anonymous said...

GEEK :]