The tidiness of elementary mathematics
Aus DMUW-Wiki
Version vom 8. November 2011, 23:18 Uhr von Sangwinc (Diskussion | Beiträge)
We all expect a certain tidiness to mathematics, and for many this provides a gratifying aesthetic pleasure. However, there are some wrinkles. One of these arises in the integral of . Calculus provides us with the formula However, this equation is only correct for . If we try to take the right hand side is meaningless because we have a zero on the denominator of the fraction, i.e. . But in this case a separate argument gives the answer Our expectation is that these two formulae should be reconciled. Indeed, if we let approach in the first we should end up with the second, but that fails to happen. For each , is undefined. You can try this on the graph below.