proof that 2 does in fact equal 1
 

heh... my 12 year old cousin just sent me this:

http://woofmedia.com/problem.gif

i figure im pretty good at algebra, this is all very simple. but i cant figure out what the flaw is in all this, if there is one... haha

You just assume B=1
which it is not. :)

Actually it's pretty bad otherwise too :)
Sad to break it to you, but 1=1

there is no assumption of value... when you end up with 2b = b, u can cancel out the b's, leaving u with 2=1... just like in the steps above, you cancel out the (a-b) on both sides of the equation...

Edited because I hate math discussions. One of my closest friends is a rocket scientist out here at EAFB, I get my fill. Have fun.

B is not 1
B could be 19283,333

yes but you still end up with 2b=b... which is impossible, regardless of value

b/b = 1

Let's do this fun thing and replace A with a value of 3. :)


A=B
3=3

A²=A*B
3²=3*3

A²-B²=AB-B²
3²-3²=3*3-3²

(A+B)(A-B)=B(a-b)
(3+3)(3-3)=3(3-3)

A+B=B
3+3=3

2B=B
2*3=3

2=1

NO!

I hate when people argue with me when I know I'm right, for example. is 2*3=3?
No. :)

The damn thing must have been written by a 12-year old.

I have way too much time on my hands.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention which parts fail but it's mainly the section with ()'s :)

it was :) isnt it great when a kid can completely destroy in minutes, everything u know about the universe? haha

The equation is true only when A and B equal 0.

In which case it comes to 0=0 which is true.

Basic math:

If you have an equation and divide both sides by the same factor, the equation remains valid, UNLESS if that factor is zero (remember: "thou shall never divide by zero?")

When you go from (a+b)(a-b) = b(a-b) => a+b = b
you are dividing both sides by (a-b); however, as a=b, (a-b)=0, you are dividing by zero, and the equation loses any validity

Y'all never studied maths. Division by zero is not allowed between steps 4 n 5 -

(a+b)(a-b) = b(a-b)

divide this by (a-b) to get -

a+b = b

but since (a-b) = 0 as a=b, you cant divide by (a-b).

I take that back - Brazz studied maths.

a & b = 0

Just to try to make it a bit clearer (???):

It´s true that

6 x 3 = 3 x 6
If you divide both sides by 6 or 3, the equation remains true

Now,

10 x 0 = 20 x 0
If you divide both sides by any number, except zero, equalty remains

However, if you divide by zero, you get 10 = 20 (absurd)

That's the problem - you cannot divide by zero at all. Therefore you cannot say "you get 10 = 20" beacuse in fact, you get an undefined number.

wrong ... anything divided by zero is undefined.

props to you man =) good call on that, I went halfway through 300 level amath and math in college and didn't pick that up 'till you pointed it out :-)

Eh?

i dont give a fuck how old you are, how long u were in school and all that other happy horse shit.. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz = zyxvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba!

bunky


oh and Bump!