Funny identities

Question

Here is a funny exercise $$\sin(x - y) \sin(x + y) = (\sin x - \sin y)(\sin x + \sin y).$$ (If you prove it don't publish it here please). Do you have similar examples?

Answer 1

$$\int_0^1\frac{\mathrm{d}x}{x^x}=\sum_{k=1}^\infty \frac1{k^k}$$

Answer 2

$$\left(\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k\right)^2=\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk^3 .$$

The two on the left is not a typo.

Answer 3

$$ \infty! = \sqrt{2 \pi} $$

It comes from the zeta function.

Answer 4

Ah, this is one identity which comes into use for proving the Euler's Partition Theorem. The identity is as follows: $$ (1+x)(1+x^{2})(1+x^{3}) \cdots = \frac{1}{(1-x)(1-x^{3})(1-x^{5}) \cdots}$$

Answer 5

Machin's Formula: \begin{eqnarray} \frac{\pi}{4} = 4 \arctan \frac{1}{5} - \arctan \frac{1}{239}. \end{eqnarray}

Answer 6

$$\frac{1}{\sin(2\pi/7)} + \frac{1}{\sin(3\pi/7)} = \frac{1}{\sin(\pi/7)}$$

Answer 7

The Frobenius automorphism

$$(x + y)^p = x^p + y^p$$

Answer 8

\begin{eqnarray} 1^{3} + 2^{3} + 2^{3} + 2^{3} + 4^{3} + 4^{3} + 4^{3} + 8^{3} = (1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 8)^{2} \end{eqnarray} More generally, let $D_{k} = \{ d\}$ be the set of unitary divisors of a positive integer $k$, and let $\mathsf{d}^{*} \colon \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ denote the number-of-unitary-divisors (arithmetic) function. Then \begin{eqnarray} \sum_{d \in D} \mathsf{d}^{*}(d)^{3} = \left( \sum_{d \in D} \mathsf{d}^{*}(d) \right)^{2} \end{eqnarray}

Note that $\mathsf{d}^{*}(k) = 2^{\omega(k)}$, where $\omega(k)$ is the number distinct prime divisors of $k$.

Answer 9

$$\large{1,741,725 = 1^7 + 7^7 + 4^7 + 1^7 + 7^7 + 2^7 + 5^7}$$

and

$$\large{111,111,111 \times 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321}$$

Answer 10

$$\sec^2(x)+\csc^2(x)=\sec^2(x)\csc^2(x)$$

Answer 11

\[\sqrt{n^{\log n}}=n^{\log \sqrt{n}}\]

Answer 12

$\displaystyle\big(a^2+b^2\big)\cdot\big(c^2+d^2\big)=\big(ac \mp bd\big)^2+\big(ad \pm bc\big)^2$

Answer 13

Facts about $\pi$ are always fun!

\begin{equation} \frac{\pi}{2} = \frac{2}{1}\cdot\frac{2}{3}\cdot\frac{4}{3}\cdot\frac{4}{5}\cdot\frac{6}{5}\cdot\frac{6}{7}\cdot\frac{8}{7}\cdot\ldots\\ \end{equation} \begin{equation} \frac{\pi}{4} = 1-\frac{1}{3}+\frac{1}{5}-\frac{1}{7}+\frac{1}{9}-\ldots\\ \end{equation} \begin{equation} \frac{\pi^2}{6} = 1+\frac{1}{2^2}+\frac{1}{3^2}+\frac{1}{4^2}+\frac{1}{5^2}+\ldots\\ \end{equation} \begin{equation} \frac{\pi^3}{32} = 1-\frac{1}{3^3}+\frac{1}{5^3}-\frac{1}{7^3}+\frac{1}{9^3}-\ldots\\ \end{equation} \begin{equation} \frac{\pi^4}{90} = 1+\frac{1}{2^4}+\frac{1}{3^4}+\frac{1}{4^4}+\frac{1}{5^4}+\ldots\\ \end{equation} \begin{equation} \frac{2}{\pi} = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\cdot\frac{\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2}}}{2}\cdot\frac{\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2}}}}{2}\cdot\ldots\\ \end{equation} \begin{equation} \pi = \cfrac{4}{1+\cfrac{1^2}{3+\cfrac{2^2}{5+\cfrac{3^2}{7+\cfrac{4^2}{9+\ldots}}}}}\\ \end{equation}

Answer 14

Well, i don't know whether to classify this as funny or surprising, but ok it's worth posting.

• Let $(X,\tau)$ be a topological space and let $A \subset X$ . By iteratively applying operations of closure and complemention, one can produce at most 14 distinct sets. It's called as the Kuratowski's Closure complement problem.

Answer 15

The following number is prime

$p = 785963102379428822376694789446897396207498568951$

and $p$ in base 16 is

$89ABCDEF012345672718281831415926141424F7$

which includes counting in hexadecimal, and digits of $e$, $\pi$, and $\sqrt{2}$.

Do you think this's surprising or not?

$$11 \times 11 = 121$$ $$111 \times 111 = 12321$$ $$1111 \times 1111 = 1234321$$ $$11111 \times 11111 = 123454321$$ $$\vdots$$

Answer 16

\begin{align} \frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dx}(x^x) &= x\cdot x^{x-1} &\text{Power Rule?}&\ \text{False}\\ \frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dx}(x^x) &= x^{x}\ln(x) &\text{Exponential Rule?}&\ \text{False}\\ \frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dx}(x^x) &= x\cdot x^{x-1}+x^{x}\ln(x) &\text{Sum of these?}&\ \text{True}\\ \end{align}

Answer 17

$$ \frac{e}{2} = \left(\frac{2}{1}\right)^{1/2}\left(\frac{2\cdot 4}{3\cdot 3}\right)^{1/4}\left(\frac{4\cdot 6\cdot 6\cdot 8}{5\cdot 5\cdot 7\cdot 7}\right)^{1/8}\left(\frac{8\cdot 10\cdot 10\cdot 12\cdot 12\cdot 14\cdot 14\cdot 16}{9\cdot 9\cdot 11\cdot 11\cdot 13\cdot 13\cdot 15\cdot 15}\right)^{1/16}\cdots $$ [Nick Pippenger, Amer. Math. Monthly, 87 (1980)]. Set all the exponents to 1 and you get the Wallis formula for $\pi/2$.

Answer 18

\begin{eqnarray} \sum_{i_1 = 0}^{n-k} \, \sum_{i_2 = 0}^{n-k-i_1} \cdots \sum_{i_k = 0}^{n-k-i_1 - \cdots - i_{k-1}} 1 = \binom{n}{k} \end{eqnarray}

Answer 19

M.V Subbarao's identity: an integer $n>22$ is a prime number iff it satisfies,

$$n\sigma(n)\equiv 2 \pmod {\phi(n)}$$

Answer 20

$${\Large% \sqrt{\,\vphantom{\huge A}\color{#00f}{20}\color{#c00000}{25}\,}\, =\ \color{#00f}{20}\ +\ \color{#c00000}{25}\ =\ 45} $$

Answer 21

$$\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty} n = 1 + 2 + 3 + \cdots \text{ad inf.} = -\frac{1}{12}$$

You can also see many more here: The Euler-Maclaurin formula, Bernoulli numbers, the zeta function, and real-variable analytic continuation

Answer 22

Two related integrals:

$$\int_0^\infty\sin\;x\quad\mathrm{d}x=1$$

$$\int_0^\infty\ln\;x\;\sin\;x\quad \mathrm{d}x=-\gamma$$

Answer 23

$$ 10^2+11^2+12^2=13^2+14^2 $$

There's a funny Abstruse Goose comic about this, which I can't seem to find at the moment.

Answer 24

$32768=(3-2+7)^6 / 8$

Just a funny coincidence.

Answer 25

By excluding the first two primes, Euler's Prime Product becomes a square:

$$\prod _{n=3}^{\infty } \frac{1}{1-\frac{1}{(p_n)^{2}}}=\frac{\pi ^2}{9}$$

By using multiples of the product of the first two primes, we get the square root:

$$\prod _{n=1}^{\infty } \frac{1}{1-\frac{1}{(n p_1 p_2)^{2}}}=\frac{\pi }{3}$$

Answer 26

I have one: In a $\Delta ABC$, $$\tan A+\tan B+\tan C=\tan A\tan B\tan C.$$

Answer 27

The product of any four consecutive integers is one less than a perfect square.

To phrase it more like an identity:

For every integer $n$, there exists an integer $k$ such that $$n(n+1)(n+2)(n+3) = k^2 - 1.$$

Answer 28

$$\left|z+z'\right|^{2}+\left|z-z'\right|^{2}=2\times\left(\left|z\right|^{2}+\left|z'\right|^{2}\right)$$

The sum of the squares of the sides equals the sum of the squares of the diagonals.

Answer 29

What is 42?

$$ 6 \times 9 = 42 \text{ base } 13 $$ I always knew that there is something wrong with this universe.

Answer 30

Considering the main branches

$$i^i = \exp\left(-\frac{\pi}{2}\right)$$

$$\root i \of i = \exp\left(\frac{\pi}{2}\right) $$

And $$ \frac{4}{\pi } = \displaystyle 1 + \frac{1}{{3 +\displaystyle \frac{{{2^2}}}{{5 + \displaystyle\frac{{{3^2}}}{{7 +\displaystyle \frac{{{4^2}}}{{9 +\displaystyle \frac{{{n^2}}}{{\left( {2n + 1} \right) + \cdots }}}}}}}}}} $$

Answer 31

$$\int_0^\infty\frac1{1+x^2}\cdot\frac1{1+x^\pi}dx=\int_0^\infty\frac1{1+x^2}\cdot\frac1{1+x^e}dx$$

Answer 32

Best near miss

$$\int_{0}^{\infty }\cos\left ( 2x \right )\prod_{n=0}^{\infty}\cos\left ( \frac{x}{n} \right )~\mathrm dx\approx \frac{\pi}{8}-7.41\times 10^{-43}$$

One can easily be fooled into thinking that it is exactly $\dfrac{\pi}{8}$.

References:

• Wikipedia
• Future Prospects for Computer-Assisted Mathematics, by D.H. Bailey and J.M. Borwein

Answer 33

Let $f$ be a symbol with the property that $f^n = n!$. Consider $d_n$, the number of ways of putting $n$ letters in $n$ envelopes so that no letter gets to the right person (aka derangements). Many people initially think that $d_n = (n-1)! = f^{n-1}$ (the first object has $n-1$ legal locations, the second $n-2$, ...). The correct answer isn't that different actually:

$d_n = (f-1)^n$.

Answer 34

$$ 71 = \sqrt{7! + 1}. $$

Besides the amusement of reusing the decimal digits $7$ and $1$, this is conjectured to be the last solution of $n!+1 = x^2$ in integers. ($n=4$ and $n=5$ also work.) Even finiteness of the set of solutions is not known except using the ABC conjecture.

Answer 35

I actually think currying is really cool:

$$(A \times B) \to C \; \simeq \; A \to (B \to C)$$

Though not strictly an identity, but an isomorphism.

When I met it for the first time it seemed to be a bit odd but it is so convenient and neat. At least in programming.

Answer 36

We have by block partition rule for determinant $$ \det \left[ \begin{array}{cc} U & R \\ L & D \end{array} \right] = \det U\cdot \det ( D-LU^{-1}R) $$ But if $U,R,L$ and $D$ commute we have that $$ \det \left[ \begin{array}{cc} U & R \\ L & D \end{array} \right] = \det (UD-LR) $$

Answer 37

Heres a interesting one again
$3435=3^3+4^4+3^3+5^5%$

Answer 38

The Cayley-Hamilton theorem:

If $A \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times n}$ and $I_{n} \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times n}$ is the identity matrix, then the characteristic polynomial of $A$ is $p(\lambda) = \det(\lambda I_n - A)$. Then the Cayley Hamilton theorem can be obtained by "substituting" $\lambda = A$, since $$p(A) = \det(AI_n-A) = \det(0-0) = 0$$

Answer 39

$(x-a)(x-b)(x-c)\ldots(x-z) = 0$

Answer 40

$$\frac{1}{998901}=0.000001002003004005006...997999000001...$$

Answer 41

$$ \dfrac{1}{2}=\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{2}}{\dfrac{1}{2}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{2}}{\dfrac{1}{2}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{2}}{\dfrac{1}{2}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{2}}{\dfrac{1}{2}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{2}}{\dfrac{1}{2}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{2}}{\dfrac{1}{2}+\cdots}}}}}} $$

and more generally we have $$ \dfrac{1}{n+1}=\frac{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}}{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}}{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}}{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}}{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}+\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}}{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}+\dfrac{\frac{1}{n(n+1)}}{\dfrac{1}{n(n+1)}+\ddots}}}}}} $$

Answer 42

\begin{eqnarray} \zeta(0) = \sum_{n \geq 1} 1 = -\frac{1}{2} \end{eqnarray}

Answer 43

\begin{align}\frac{64}{16}&=\frac{6\!\!/\,4}{16\!\!/}\\&=\frac41\\&=4\end{align}

For more examples of these weird fractions, see "How Weird Are Weird Fractions?", Ryan Stuffelbeam, The College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 44, No. 3 (May 2013), pp. 202-209.

Answer 44

$$2592=2^59^2$$ Found this in one of Dudeney's puzzle books

Answer 45

$$\frac{\pi}{4}=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\arctan\frac{1}{f_{2n+1}}, $$ where $f_{2n+1}$ there are fibonacci numbers, $n=1,2,...$

Answer 46

\begin{eqnarray} \sum_{k = 0}^{\lfloor q - q/p) \rfloor} \left \lfloor \frac{p(q - k)}{q} \right \rfloor = \sum_{k = 1}^{q} \left \lfloor \frac{kp}{q} \right \rfloor \end{eqnarray}

Answer 47

$$27\cdot56=2\cdot756,$$ $$277\cdot756=27\cdot7756,$$ $$2777\cdot7756=277\cdot77756,$$ and so on.

Answer 48

$$ \sum_{n=1}^{+\infty}\frac{\mu(n)}{n}=1-\frac12-\frac13-\frac15+\frac16-\frac17+\frac1{10}-\frac1{11}-\frac1{13}+\frac1{14}+\frac1{15}-\cdots=0 $$ This relation was discovered by Euler in 1748 (before Riemann's studies on the $\zeta$ function as a complex variable function, from which this relation becomes much more easier!).

Then one of the most impressive formulas is the functional equation for the $\zeta$ function, in its asimmetric form: it highlights a very very deep and smart connection between the $\Gamma$ and the $\zeta$: $$ \pi^{\frac s2}\Gamma\left(\frac s2\right)\zeta(s)= \pi^{\frac{1-s}2}\Gamma\left(\frac{1-s}2\right)\zeta(1-s)\;\;\;\forall s\in\mathbb C\;. $$

Moreover no one seems to have wrote the Basel problem (Euler, 1735): $$ \sum_{n=1}^{+\infty}\frac1{n^2}=\frac{\pi^2}{6}\;\;. $$

Answer 49

$$ \sin \theta \cdot \sin \bigl(60^\circ - \theta \bigr) \cdot \sin \bigl(60^\circ + \theta \bigr) = \frac{1}{4} \sin 3\theta$$

$$ \cos \theta \cdot \cos \bigl(60^\circ - \theta \bigr) \cdot \cos \bigl(60^\circ + \theta \bigr) = \frac{1}{4} \cos 3\theta$$

$$ \tan \theta \cdot \tan \bigl(60^\circ - \theta \bigr) \cdot \tan \bigl(60^\circ + \theta \bigr) = \tan 3\theta $$

Answer 50

$\lnot$(A$\land$B)=($\lnot$A$\lor$$\lnot$B) and $\lnot$(A$\lor$B)=($\lnot$A$\land$$\lnot$B), because they mean that negation is an "equal form".

Answer 51

Here's one clever trigonometric identity that impressed me in high-school days. Add $\sin \alpha$, to both the numerator and the denominator of $\sqrt{\frac{1-\cos \alpha}{1 + \cos \alpha}}$ and get rid of the square root and nothing changes. In other words:

$$\frac{1 - \cos \alpha + \sin \alpha}{1 + \cos \alpha + \sin \alpha} = \sqrt{\frac{1-\cos \alpha}{1 + \cos \alpha}}$$

If you take a closer look you'll notice that the RHS is the formula for tangent of a half-angle. Actually if you want to prove those, nothing but the addition formulas are required.

Answer 52

$\tan^{-1}(1)+\tan^{-1}(2)+\tan^{-1}(3) = \pi$ (using the principal value), but if you blindly use the addition formula $\tan^{-1}(x) + \tan^{-1}(y) = \tan^{-1}\dfrac{x+y}{1-x y}$ twice, you get zero:

$\tan^{-1}(1) + \tan^{-1}(2) = \tan^{-1}\dfrac{1+2}{1-1*2} =\tan^{-1}(-3)$; $\tan^{-1}(1) + \tan^{-1}(2) + \tan^{-1}(3) =\tan^{-1}(-3) + \tan^{-1}(3) =\tan^{-1}\dfrac{-3+3}{1-(-3)(3)} = 0$.

Answer 53

$$ \begin{array}{rcrcl} \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots \\[1mm] \int{1 \over x^{3}}\,{\rm d}x & = & -\,{1 \over 2}\,{1 \over x^{2}} & \sim & x^{\color{#ff0000}{\large\bf -2}} \\[1mm] \int{1 \over x^{2}}\,{\rm d}x & = & -\,{1 \over x} & \sim & x^{\color{#ff0000}{\large\bf -1}} \\[1mm] \int{1 \over x}\,{\rm d}x & = & \ln\left(x\right) & \sim & x^{\color{#0000ff}{\LARGE\bf 0}} \color{#0000ff}{\LARGE\quad ?} \\[1mm] \int x^{0}\,{\rm d}x & = & x^{1} & \sim & x^{\color{#ff0000}{\large\bf 1}} \\[1mm] \int x\,{\rm d}x & = & {1 \over 2}\,x^{2} & \sim & x^{\color{#ff0000}{\large\bf 2}} \\[1mm] \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots \end{array} $$

Answer 54

$$\lim_{\omega\to\infty}3=8$$ The "proof" is by rotation through $\pi/2$. More of a joke than an identity, I suppose.

Answer 55

For all $n\in\mathbb{N}$ and $n\neq1$ $$\prod_{k=1}^{n-1}2\sin\frac{k \pi}{n} = n$$

For some reason, the proof involves complex numbers and polynomials.

Link to proof: Prove that $\prod_{k=1}^{n-1}\sin\frac{k \pi}{n} = \frac{n}{2^{n-1}}$

Answer 56

\begin{align} E &= \sqrt{\left(pc\right)^{2} + \left(mc^{2}\right)^{2}} = mc^{2} + \left[\sqrt{\left(pc\right)^{2} + \left(mc^{2}\right)^{2}} - mc^{2}\right] \\[3mm]&= mc^{2} + {\left(pc\right)^{2} \over \sqrt{\left(pc\right)^{2} + \left(mc^{2}\right)^{2}} + mc^{2}} = mc^{2} + {p^{2}/2m \over 1 + {\sqrt{\left(pc\right)^{2} + \left(mc^{2}\right)^{2}} - mc^{2} \over 2mc^{2}}} \\[3mm]&= mc^{2} + {p^{2}/2m \over 1 + {p^{2}/2m \over \sqrt{\left(pc\right)^{2} + \left(mc^{2}\right)^{2}} + mc^{2}}} = mc^{2} + {p^{2}/2m \over 1 + {p^{2}/2m \over 1 + {p^{2}/2m \over \sqrt{\left(pc\right)^{2} + \left(mc^{2}\right)^{2}} - mc^{2}}}} \end{align}

Answer 57

Voronoi summation formula:

$\sum \limits_{n=1}^{\infty}d(n)(\frac{x}{n})^{1/2}\{Y_1(4\pi \sqrt{nx})+\frac{2}{\pi}K_1(4\pi \sqrt{nx})\}+x \log x +(2 \gamma-1)x +\frac{1}{4}=\sum \limits _{n\leq x}'d(n)$

Answer 58

$\textbf{Claim:}\quad$$$\frac{\sin x}{n}=6$$ for all $n,x$ ($n\neq 0$).

$\textit{Proof:}\quad$$$\frac{\sin x}{n}=\frac{\dfrac{1}{n}\cdot\sin x}{\dfrac{1}{n}\cdot n}=\frac{\operatorname{si}x}{1}=\text{six}.\quad\blacksquare$$

Answer 59

$$ \frac{\pi}{2}=1+2\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{\eta(2k)}{2^{2k}} $$ $$ \frac{\pi}{3}=1+2\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{\eta(2k)}{6^{2k}} $$ where $ \eta(n)=\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^{k+1}}{k^{n}} $

Answer 60

I have another one, but I'm quite unwilling to post this here because it's MINE, I haven't found it anywhere, so don't steal this.

Let us take the four most important mathematical constants: The Euler number $e$, the Aurea Golden Ratio $\phi$, the Euler-Mascheroni constant $\gamma$ and finally $\pi$. Well we can see easily that

$$e\cdot\gamma\cdot\pi\cdot\phi \approx e + \gamma + \pi + \phi$$

Answer 61

Let $\sigma(n)$ denote the sum of the divisors of $n$.

If $$p=1+\sigma(k),$$ then $$p^a=1+\sigma(kp^{a-1})$$ where $a,k$ are positive integers and $p$ is a prime such that $p\not\mid k$.

Answer 62

If we define $P$ as the infinite lower triangular matrix where $P_{i,j} = \binom{i}{j}$ (we can call it the Pascal Matrix), then $$P^k_{i,j} = \binom{i}{j}k^{i-j}$$

where $P^k_{i,j}$ is the element of $P^k$ in the position $i,j.$

Answer 63

$$ \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}{\sin\left(x\right) \over x}\,{\rm d}x = \pi\int_{-1}^{1}\delta\left(k\right)\,{\rm d}k $$