Jump to content

Sqauring the circle...


Arugela

Recommended Posts

There is a proof that this cannot be done. That's very different than lacking proof that it can be done. It's not a matter of us not having enough imagination or brain power to invent a method. We have figured out why it can't be done in general.

Simple example. Find an integer whose square is 7. I can easily show that no such integer exists. All I have to do is show that neither 1 * 1 nor 2 * 2 is equal to 7, because 3 * 3 = 9 > 7, and that means I can stop testing.

Your argument is equivalent to saying, "There are infinitely many integers. A human brain can't test them all, so we can't know that there isn't some other integer whose square is 7." But that's not how numbers work. If 1 * 1 = 1, and 2 * 2 = 4, then that's it. A square of absolutely any other integer will be too large to be equal to seven, and I don't have to test them all.

Pi is not algebraic, therefore it is not constructible, and therefore squaring the circle is impossible. I know that you don't understand what any of these things actually mean, but people who studied a little bit of mathematics absolutely do. And it's equivalent to excluding all of the infinite possible constructions. You aren't going to find a construction that works, because to find one would be to prove that pi is algebraic. That's like proving that it's exactly square root of 12, or something like that. Which it isn't. Again, we have a proof that it's not. It's just like the situation with all other numbers being too big. All other construction methods just don't fit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...