- #1
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In some part of this forum there was a link to silly math proofs such as 10 = 0, 2 = 1, 3 = 4 and so on. I've slightly modified one of those proofs in order to make it tricky to figure out what is wrong.
first of all, A --> B so A and B are almost equal. IIRC, ~ means something like almost equal so I will use it to relate the two.
A ~ B then multiply both sides by A
A^2 ~ AB then subtract B^2 from both sides
A^2 - B^2 ~ AB - B^2 then we factor both sides
(A + B) * (A - B) ~ B * (A - B) now divide both sides by (A - B)
A + B ~ B since A and B are almost equal, let's half ass simplify
B + B ~ B combine like terms
2B ~ B factor out B
2 ~ 1 what the heck?
At the step where both sides are divided by A - B, that is NOT a divide by 0 error. Since A and B are not exactly equal, that operation was perfectly legal.
So where is the flaw here?
first of all, A --> B so A and B are almost equal. IIRC, ~ means something like almost equal so I will use it to relate the two.
A ~ B then multiply both sides by A
A^2 ~ AB then subtract B^2 from both sides
A^2 - B^2 ~ AB - B^2 then we factor both sides
(A + B) * (A - B) ~ B * (A - B) now divide both sides by (A - B)
A + B ~ B since A and B are almost equal, let's half ass simplify
B + B ~ B combine like terms
2B ~ B factor out B
2 ~ 1 what the heck?
At the step where both sides are divided by A - B, that is NOT a divide by 0 error. Since A and B are not exactly equal, that operation was perfectly legal.
So where is the flaw here?