View Full Version : -1 = 1
heres a little problem that at a first glance is real:
\frac{1}{-1} = \frac{-1}{1}
so
\sqrt{\frac{1}{-1}} = \sqrt{\frac{-1}{1}}
by splitting it the square root into two parts...
\frac{i}{1} = \frac{1}{i}
and i^2 = 1
-1 = 1
wonder if there are any more similar "proofs"?
You can't split the square root into two parts. There are plenty of similar "proofs". You can search the web for them, and there are a number of them on this site alone.
mathlete
Nov1-04, 09:19 PM
You can not take the square root of a negative number.
Tom McCurdy
Nov1-04, 10:18 PM
You can not take the square root of a negative number.
\sqrt{-1}=i
imaginay numbers allow for negitive sqroots
he just violated a law in the way he split up his negitive signs.
Tom McCurdy
Nov1-04, 10:19 PM
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ImaginaryNumber.html
imagianary numbers
Tom McCurdy
Nov1-04, 10:20 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_numbers
more explanation on how you can take sqrt of negitive numbers
A thinly veiled version of the same, though the fallacy is perhaps more transparent:
Euler's formula tells us:
e^{i\theta}=\cos(\theta)+i\sin(\theta)
So we see that:
e^{-i\pi}=e^{i\pi}
taking roots gives:
(e^{-i\pi})^{1/2}=(e^{i\pi})^{1/2}
e^{-i\frac{\pi}{2}}=e^{i\frac{\pi}{2}}
Using Euler's formula again and we get:
-i=i
or -1=1
Gokul43201
Nov2-04, 12:56 AM
Here's another (though this one cheats in a different way) :
1 = \sqrt{1} = \sqrt{(-1)(-1)} = \sqrt{-1} \sqrt{-1} = i^2 = -1
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