Thread: Can 2 = 1?
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Old 08-28-2008, 01:05 PM   #13 (permalink)
Moshi2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xynh View Post
Well, its back to school, and the first thing I learn from my math teacher is that 2 equals 1. He told the whole class to stop his proof if anyone can find a mathematical error. Well, no one did. Here's what he did:

Let A = B.
Multply both sides by A.
Now its: A^2 = AB.
Subtrace both sides by B^2.
Now its: A^2 - B^2 = AB - B^2.
When you factor it, it becomes: (A + B ) (A - B ) = B (A - B ).
Simplify it, making it: A + B = B.
Now, since A = B, you can make it: B + B = B.
Now to simplify: 2B/B = B/B.
Anything divided by itself is one, so the final equation would be: 2 = 1.

I cannot find an error in this equation, so.. What the hell?
There's the error in bold. To simplify (A+ B )(A-B ) = B(A- B ), what did you do? dividing both sides by (A- B ), right? BUT, A-B = 0 (based on your assumption A= B ) [division by zero]
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