+2864 Does anyone know why 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 ...... forever.... is equal to -1/12?
Can someone explain this to me, my friend said it was true and I don't know why. I think it has to do with summation...
+1713 I know this one!
This sum is widely used in physics and many people argue about this, but I think that this video does a great job of explaining:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6XTVZXww
It's really good.
People argue about it because it's hard to imagine a sum like that to be negative.
This video is extremely convincing...
It has to do with summation, you are correct, and infinite series altering.
Tony in the video called it mathematical hocus pocus.
I call it mathematical BS ... and that don't stand for Britney Spears.
He did a lot of shuffling around of numbers and sums, sort of like the three shells and a pea.
Our first day in Algebra 1, our teacher - Mr Barker, if it matters - proved to the class that 1 = 2.
Our lesson from that was that you can't divide by zero, AND that you can't believe everything you see.
.
+2864 Yes guest! I understand your explanation, I myself had shuffled around with numbers before, and I have found crazy proofs that are obviously not correct.
Although it is interesting to hear about this concept, I will keep in my mind the fact that these proofs can be wrong and shuffling around ain't gonna be the way to be sure.
