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Ian's Proof that Infinity = -1

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Author:Don Cohen (The Mathman)
Description: Young children try writing the sum of an infinite series as a fraction. What's wrong with Ian's argument? Newton and Euler and those other mathematicians had made similar mistakes with infinite series! The problem is that the infinite series converges only when the absolute value of a is less than 1. So it's okay to make mistakes! A sample problem with answers from Chapter 3 of Don Cohen's worksheet book.
Levels: Elementary
Languages: English
Resource Types: Problems/Puzzles
Math Topics: Number Theory

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