Following an earlier post,

a = b   *a
aa = ab   +(aa - 2ab)
2aa - 2ab = aa - ab   /(aa - ab)
2 = 1
Hope you can understand it, used aa instead of a^2.
Prize for pointing out the error!

From the 100% Fact challenge. See all 469 entries (closed)

(dustforvomit, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:52, archived)

um...
it's not a picture?

do I win?
( Roxy_Hart is taking advantage of you all, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:53, archived)

Close, it's that there isn't a kitten.
And that you've divided by zero.
aa-ab=0

What's the prize? I hope it's a picture of a kitten that you've made in photoshop, instead of nonsense like above.
Edit, you've still fucked up, and left 2aa instead of aa.
If you're not going to write it properly, what's the fucking point?
(WouldSwapABearForATiger, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:55, archived)

you mean
aa-ab=0
and you are right but we would rather have had a kitten anyway
Where's the kitten
Bring the kitten
( MissPrism, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:01, archived)

Yes, kittens please.
Thankyou for pointing that out.
(WouldSwapABearForATiger, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:02, archived)

Kitten


/pearoast
(rhallstr, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:17, archived)

Awwwww!
Wuzh wuzh wuzh!
Fluffiness restored. Thank you kindly.
( MissPrism, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:19, archived)

well
spotted


(dustforvomit, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:04, archived)

I'm waiting
for the kitten.
I'd be at home watching Countdown if I were in the mood for such puzzles right now.
/tetchy due to enforced attendance at structural biology seminar
( MissPrism, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:05, archived)

urk

Just seen this tube poll - "what winds you up about other people on the Tube?".
tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/faq/surveys/etiquette/etiquette2.asp

I like the entry "People who look like they may have an accordion at home".
( Slim has found god. He was down the back of the sofa., Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:54, archived)

Tube...
fancy southerners coming on here with yer fancy trains! we've only just got the metro to my part of the world
( Roxy_Hart is taking advantage of you all, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:55, archived)

Are you in Sunderland?
Or is there more than one Metro?
And I'm not a fucking southerner, right? ;O)
( Slim has found god. He was down the back of the sofa., Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:56, archived)

yes I am in Sunderland
and I'm sorry about the southerner slur :)
( Roxy_Hart is taking advantage of you all, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:58, archived)

no worries
bloody maccams :O)
( Slim has found god. He was down the back of the sofa., Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:03, archived)

ha, in the proper south
we're lucky if we can get a cab
( stevierar, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:04, archived)

everyone is a twunt
on the Tube

100% FFFFACT*

*(c) somebody else
(39811 basic bytes free, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:58, archived)

but
there are no threads on the tube, so no one can threadwaste, so how can anyone be a twunt?
( Detrius521, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:58, archived)

twunt = twat + cunt, yes?

(goat thinks you're shit, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:04, archived)

You see the big place out the window?
That's called the "outside world". People swear there too.
( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:06, archived)

they do?
the cheeky fucking bastards!
( LP, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:11, archived)

have I
unintentionally started a fracas?

Let me rephrase to avoid any doubt:

Everyone, without exception, including you and me, become (for the duration of our journey on the London Underground) pustulent festering sores on the soul of humanity, emobdying all that is corrupt and vile in the world and whilst belching out our bodily filth and narrowing our tiny isolated bigoted minds further still, endeavour to create as much discomfort and disharmony in our travelling companions as possible.

I get the bus, it 0nwZ. w00t!
(39811 basic bytes free, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:13, archived)

some horrible fuccccccker
last night on nthe tube kept staring at me and refused EVEN WHEN I ASKED HIM to not stare...
(Emzickle, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:03, archived)

teehee
did I annoy you?
( LP, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:11, archived)

Ouch,
my brain hurts.
(Pedro-a-Go-Go, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:54, archived)

It's just not
right. Other than that, it's really funny.
( Cromagnon Don't waste my motherfucking time!, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:54, archived)

Is the hypotenuse longer
than the arm of a wanking gypsy?
( BrassMonkey I don't know about your brain,but you look alright, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:54, archived)

Never

( Cromagnon Don't waste my motherfucking time!, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:56, archived)

I've seen this before,
I can't quite follow that, but I believe you cock up your +/- signs when you're either factorising or expanding.

Like I say, I'm finding it hard to make head or tail of that.
( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:55, archived)

the last step is hookey
(2x+2x2)/(x+x2) isnt 2 +2
its
(2x)/(x+x2) + (2x2)/(x+x2) for example

edit also 2-2 isnt 2 its 0
( Paper Tiger, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:56, archived)

I believe you are correct.
How you managed to tidy that up I'll never know. I really couldn't be arsed.
( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:58, archived)

ahh the joys
of A level further maths
( Paper Tiger, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:26, archived)

you didnt superscript the
2 after each a.
gimme a sec im doing the maths in my head now.
ill find your mistake. i will.
(Slurpy The Frog, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:57, archived)

hmm, attempt to understand
if a=b
and 2a = ab, then b must equal 2.
and so 2x2xa - 2ab = a2 - ab
so 4a - 2ab = 2a - ab
then i just lose the thread

right.

2a - ab is
ba - ab is
bb - bb (a=b)
so they cancel out

4a - 2ab is
2x2xa - 2xaxb is
bxbxa - bxaxa is
bxbxb - bxbxb (a=b) again

so they cancel out

so '4a - 2ab = 2a - ab' is correct as it is stating 0=0

(at this point i went back to the board to check on the maths but it had been replaced)

edit: oh, a2 is a SQUARED.... oh thanks a lot
(1, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 17:58, archived)

Also,
I think his proposed algebra assumes that neither a nor b are 0, but that's not stated.
( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:04, archived)

Neither needs to be zero, but he does assert that they are equal.
Actually their value is irrelevent.

On a similar note, did you know that i^i = e^(-Pi/2) [where i = sqrt(-1)].
This is actually true, raise an imaginary number to the power of an imaginary number and get back a real number. I always thought that was odd.
( Hagbard - Mario Kart DS Code in profile, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:11, archived)

I hate imaginary numbers.
Who cares what the square root of a negative number is anyway?

Cunts.
( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:15, archived)

Yes, but a==b, so (a-b)==0 which is what you're dividing by
I dunno about you, but I don't do divides by zero :)

This is an *old* maths teaser. Like old as in about 1800's IIRC.
( Hagbard - Mario Kart DS Code in profile, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:06, archived)

well i didn't see the dividing by thing
because it was edited out
(1, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:08, archived)

It's just implicit in the bit where you drop terms from both sides.

( Hagbard - Mario Kart DS Code in profile, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:12, archived)

My A level teacher used to pull this all the time,
but I'm too old to work out equations written badly in ASCII on a messageboard ;)
( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:08, archived)

also,
dividing 0 by 0
(Slurpy The Frog, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:10, archived)

gets 0?
as no apples divided between noone gets no apples going anywhere
(1, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:11, archived)

How do you like *them* apples?

( supermoore: HUNG, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:20, archived)

got it
if a=b then aa=ab

then 2aa-2ab=0, as does aa-ab.
so 0=0 /(aa-ab)
0=0

you must divide the totals of each side otherwise you are just wrong
(Slurpy The Frog, Thu 30 Oct 2003, 18:03, archived)