An Euler Gem: Distinct Partitions and Odd Partitions (VIDEO!)

There are four ways to break the number 6 down into a sum of distinct numbers: 6 = 5+1 = 4+2 = 3+2+1. There are four ways to break the number of 6 down into odd numbers: 5+1 = 3+3 = 3+1+1=1 = 1+1+1+1+1+1.
It is no coincidence that the count of ways are the same. In 1740 Euler proved it will always be so! His proof is ingenious and here it is!
[I've also added a challenge at the end to discover other bizarre results like this one. I bet you can do it!]

Euler_Naude

• ON-LINE SHORT COURSES!

  QUADRATICS, Permutations and Combinations, EXPLODING DOTS, and more!

  Written for educators - and their students too! - this website, slowly growing, takes all the content Tanton has developed in his books, videos, and workshops, and organizes it into short, self-contained, and complete, curriculum units proving that mathematics, at all points of the school curriculum, can be joyous, fresh, innovative, rich, deep-thinking, and devoid of any rote doing! Let's teach generations of students to be self-reliant thinkers, willing to flail and to use their common sense to "nut their way" through challenges, to assess and judge results, and to adjust actions to find success. (Great life skills!)

  CHECK OUT: www.gdaymath.com

• Books

  • Thinking Mathematics! (TEN VOLUMES)
  • Solve This: Mathematical Activities for Students and Clubs
  • Encyclopedia of Mathematics
  • Geometry I & II

• Get in touch

  Email: tanton.math@gmail.com