.999~ = 1

[Greg Ross]

Nothing's illegal, eh? To get from

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

to

a = b+a

you have to divide by (b-a) which is zero! Which is the DEFINITION of illegal!

[deltacoder1020]

Originally Posted by gwross

Nothing's illegal, eh? To get from

to

you have to divide by (b-a) which is zero! Which is the DEFINITION of illegal!

yep. oldest trick in the false-proof book. second oldest is trying to argue that x^2 = y^2 implies that x = y.