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Forum URL: http://www.cut-the-knot.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/forumctk.cgi
Forum Name: Thoughts and Suggestions
Topic ID: 57
Message ID: 0
#0, Irationality of root 2
Posted by Aaron on Feb-20-09 at 03:50 PM
There are already several versions of a geometric proof by infinite descent so maybe another isn't needed. BUT I did not see this version( maybe I overlooked it...) which is especially visually clear to people who are less scared by rectangles than by triangles (I'll describe rather than draw the diagram): Take a rectangle in proportions 1 to sqrt(2) (like an ideal sheet of A4 paper). Remove a largest square from the top leaving one with proportions 1 to sqrt(2)-1 along the base. Then remove a largest possible square from the right side of this smaller rectangle. The result is an even smaller rectangle proportional to the first. SO (as usual) the Euclidean algorithm never ceases.