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NOT ONLINE Sholly73

Sholly73 has been a member since 11/9/05 and was last logged in on 10/2/18

2=1 9/29/09 4:46 PM

Ever have one of those days where the numbers just don't seem to add up? Maybe it's because 2=1. Yeah, you read that right. 2 really does equal 1. Don't believe me? Then I'll prove it:

Take the numbers x and y, and make them equal to each other:
x=y

Multiply both sides of this equation by x:
x²=xy

Subtract y²:
x²-y²=xy-y²

Factor both sides of this equation:
(x+y)(x-y)=y(x-y)

Since the factor (x-y) appears on both sides, divide by (x-y) to get rid of it:
x+y=y

Since x and y are equal, substitute y in place of x:
y+y=y
2y=y

Finally, divide by y:
2=1

See, 2 really does equal 1...or does it?

Comments

  • pinkscootie

    is this algebra?


    Yes, but there's a flaw in the reasoning. Check out the comments below.

  • dunndone

    yes it's faulty but i loved it!


    So did I. Took me a while to figure it out when I first saw it.

  • alotudo

    If x is equal to y, then you cannot divide both sides by (x-y) because you can never divide something by zero. Good problem, though. I think I will give it to my 8th graders tomorrow!


    Very good! I'm not surprised that a teacher would figure it out :)

  • snapeswidow

    okay u lost me when you said " take the numbers x and y"!LOL i learned in kindergarden that those were letters!LOL j/k! i use to say the same thing to my algibra teacher! maybe thats why i got a D in that class!LOL


    Well, I'm one of those math geeks, so to me, x and y are numbers. Needless to say, that didn't get me too far in English class. lol