Tuesday, June 06, 2017

[ynfztsqq] Verify 17-gon by hand

Take the expression cos(2*pi/17)+i*sin(2*pi/17), except with the trigonometric expressions written as square roots, and demonstrate raising it to the 17th power to get unity.  This will be very long and messy.  The instructive way to exponentiate is probably first repeated squarings to get to 16.  Perhaps it accompanies a piece of art with a 17 pointed star.  Also add a proof of the Gauss-Wantzel theorem.  ("A brief history of impossibility", Jeff Suzuki)

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