Along these lines,


1
3
+ 1
9
+ 1
27
+ ⋅⋅⋅ = 1
2

one could get carried away. Here is one I like okay:


1
4
+ 1
42
+ 1
43
+ ⋅⋅⋅ = 1
3

And now I realize I have actually seen the following in the calculus text we use:


1
8
+ 1
16
+ 1
32
+ ⋅⋅⋅ = 1
4

(Of course, nobody needs much of a picture to understand the above equality.) How far can you go with this? I hoped to find something interesting by exploiting these analogs...

     

but all I obtain from considering general N-gons is the rather lame identity that follows. (And it's derivation from the picture is hardly without need of explanation.)


&infin

k = 0 
(cos2 π/N)k = csc2 π/N

I suppose it is a decent exercise for a student to find the common ratio of triangle areas...

 

Rick




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