John Randall wrote:

> ITEM 54 (Salamin & Gosper):
> The probability that a random rational number has an even denominator is
> 1/3.
>

One more argument, possibly what was intended.

Let p and q be random positive integers.  Write them in binary, and
remove common trailing zeros.  The possibilities on the last bit are
now 1/1, 0/1, 1/0, and only the last case gives an even denominator
for the reduced fraction p/q.

Best wishes,

John


----------------------------------------------------------------------
For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm

Reply via email to