29 August 2009

4 equals 5


In a previous post, I showed that 4 = 3. Now this proof from Futility Closet demonstrates that 4 also equals 5.

If this interests you, now might be a good time to dig into TYWKIWDBI's (reasonably brief) math section.

11 comments:

  1. nolanddaAugust 29, 2009 at 2:58 PM

    The error is in step 2. Factoring the fractions should result in 4*(1/4) on the left and 5*(1/5) on the right.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MinnesotastanAugust 29, 2009 at 3:25 PM

    Correct.

    ReplyDelete
  3. duyguAugust 30, 2009 at 4:46 AM

    if this equation was correct, then every number we know would equal other numbers-any number, that is!

    ReplyDelete
  4. surreyAugust 31, 2009 at 4:04 AM

    oops error.............

    ReplyDelete
  5. EvAugust 31, 2009 at 4:15 AM

    Nice try, but that doesn't work i'm afraid - and the other examples on Futility Closet don't work either, they're all forgetting something or misusing a maths step.

    Or this is all just a joke?

    ReplyDelete
  6. EvAugust 31, 2009 at 4:19 AM

    Its fun think about though

    ReplyDelete
  7. LeahAugust 31, 2009 at 4:45 AM

    The maths is faulty.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MichaelAugust 31, 2009 at 4:45 AM

    it's not even that fun. it's like saying pig is meat, cow is meat, therefore pig is cow. It's just stupid. There are better and more interesting examples of proving falseties.

    ReplyDelete
  9. MinnesotastanAugust 31, 2009 at 7:55 AM

    Ev and others - this puzzle (and the other ones at the links) aren't meant to be taken seriously. It's a form of (geeky) humor.

    ReplyDelete
  10. EvSeptember 1, 2009 at 5:32 AM

    Well.... ok! :)

    I'm glad though. And the fun bit was me trying to figure out what the wrong bit was.

    Also, to me it makes point in social commentary: how people can be fooled and not accepting mathematical truths.

    To get serious, I would bring up examples of Creationists falsely misinterpreting science to make argue against scientific theories/facts (delibrately or not). This is what I thought when I saw these puzzles.

    But maybe I'm taking this too far - it was just a joke ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownAugust 21, 2012 at 7:17 PM

    but actually 4 does equal 5 haha:
    -20=-20
    -36+16=-45+25
    -36+16-(81/4)=-45+25-(81/4)
    (4-(9/2))^2=(5-(9/2))^2
    4-(9/2)=5-(9/2)
    4=5

    ReplyDelete