View Single Post
  #24   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 23-03-2012, 18:49
Ether's Avatar
Ether Ether is offline
systems engineer (retired)
no team
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Rookie Year: 1969
Location: US
Posts: 8,125
Ether has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond repute
Re: 0=-1 (Calculus Puzzle)

Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboDesigners View Post

0 = (1 - 1) + (1 - 1) + (1 - 1)...

Rearrange parenthesis:
0 = 1 + (-1 + 1) + (-1 + 1) + (-1 + 1)...
0 = 1 + 0 + 0 + 0....
0 = 1

(Ether's going to get this oh-so-fast...)
Sorry, I was offline all day.

The problem with the above "proof" is that the associative law of arithmetic is not universally valid for infinite sums. So you aren't allowed to re-arrange (or remove) the parentheses.



Last edited by Ether : 23-03-2012 at 22:20.
Reply With Quote