Sunday, 20 October 2013

complex numbers - Error in proof that 1=1




I have created a proof that1=1 but I know that this is impossible. Could someone help me find the flaw in this proof...



i=1



Given



i2=1




Given



i4=1



Given
i8=1



Given
--------------------------All Common Knowledge Above




i4=i8



Take sqrt of both sides...



i2=i4



Take sqrt of both sides...



i=i2




i=1



i2=1 (sub for i)



1×1 (sub for i2) = 1



1=1



Thankyou all for helping me. I looked at the other questions and this question is not a duplicate. However, we all have one common error; we forgot +- when taking the square root of i^4 = i^2



Answer



What people seem to be calling you out for without explanation is that if a2=b2, then we can have that a=±b. We can't know which of b or b we started with, though.



So when you say that i4=i8, then good. You're on the right track. But your next step needs to be that i2=±i4. You then have no contradiction because one of i4 and i4 is certainly equal to i2.



I hope this helps you. Always try things like these, even if others call you out for being silly. Before being amazing you have to be a little silly.


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