What's wrong with this? (basic algebra)

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What's wrong with this? (basic algebra)

Postby Robert'); DROP TABLE *; » Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:57 pm UTC

Image
I was suspecting the completing the square step, but that checks out, and I can't see any other sneakiness.
...And that is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped.
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Re: What's wrong with this? (basic algebra)

Postby t1mm01994 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:08 pm UTC

it's the part where they take the square root of both sides. 4-9/2 = -1/2, and 5-9/2 = 1/2. -(1/2)^2 = (1/2)^2, but -.5 != .5
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Re: What's wrong with this? (basic algebra)

Postby gorcee » Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:18 pm UTC

t1mm01994 wrote:it's the part where they take the square root of both sides. 4-9/2 = -1/2, and 5-9/2 = 1/2. -(1/2)^2 = (1/2)^2, but -.5 != .5


Slight typo there. Should read (-1/2)^2 = (1/2)^2
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Re: What's wrong with this? (basic algebra)

Postby Xanthir » Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:07 pm UTC

Sigh. The answer is *always* "the part where they take the square root of both sides".
(defun fibs (n &optional (a 1) (b 1)) (take n (unfold '+ a b)))
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Re: What's wrong with this? (basic algebra)

Postby t1mm01994 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:46 pm UTC

nah, I know several from the type "the part where they divide by 0".. Or with a > rather than a = in which the clue is "the part where they divide by a negative number".
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