Saturday, 2 February 2019

proof writing - Prove that 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 ....... = 1




I've often heard that instead of adding up to a little less than one, 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8... = 1. Is there any way to prove this using equations without using Sigma, or is it just an accepted fact? I need it without Sigma so I can explain it to my little sister.



It is not a duplicate because this one does not use Sigma, and the one marked as duplicate does. I want it to use variables and equations.


Answer



For physical intuition, so you can explain it to your little sister, I will use a 1m long ruler.



Take the ruler an divide it into two equal parts:



1=12+12




Take one of the parts you now have, and again divide it in half.



=12+14+14



Take one of the smaller parts you now have, and again divide it in half.



=12+14+18+18



Repeat. In general for n a positive integer,




=(12+14+...+12n)+12n=1



So,



12+14+...+12n=112n



As we let n become a really big (positive) integer, note the sum gets closer and closer to 1, because 12n gets really close to zero (the smallest part of the ruler you have left over gets close to 0 meters in length). We say the sum converges to 1 in the limit that n.


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