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Subject: "Proof"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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Nicole
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Oct-18-00, 04:10 PM (EST)
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"Proof"
 
  
Greetings,

I just had a quick question for you. A few months back, I found a link to a webpage that contained a simple algebraic proof that concluded that All Numbers Were Equal simply by using an a, b and c and simple algebra (no calculus, etc.) There was a flaw in the proof however (one line consisted of subtracting a-b-c but that equaled 0 and thus ruined the rest of the proof but the rest of it made sense...anyway, getting to the point, I tried to go back to that site today and it is no longer available. I was wondering if you knew of such a site (maybe it was just moved to a new location) since you have so many other interesting links on your page. I wanted to show the page to a friend of mine (since we are both math majors) and see if she could spot the flaw.

Thank you for your time.<br>
~N. S.


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alexb
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672 posts
Oct-18-00, 04:15 PM (EST)
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1. "RE: Proof"
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  1. I am unaware of that site.

  2. You may check


    https://www.cut-the-knot.com/do_you_know/mul_eq.shtml

    where there's an example of a similar argument

  3. There's an outstanding book by E.J.Barbeau "Mathematical Fallacies, Flaws, and Flimflam" available at the MAA's bookstore (https://www.maa.org.), where you can find hundreds of much less obvious flawed arguments. Quite indispensable for a math major.

All the best,

Alexander Bogomolny


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