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Atheist Forums › Science › Mathematics v
If 0.999(etc) = 1, does 1 - 0.999 go to zero?

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If 0.999(etc) = 1, does 1 - 0.999 go to zero?
Tiberius Offline
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RE: If 0.999(etc) = 1, does 1 - 0.999 go to zero?
February 21, 2013 at 7:12 am (This post was last modified: February 21, 2013 at 7:13 am by Tiberius.)
(February 21, 2013 at 6:50 am)Waratah Wrote: Is 0.999...(infinity)1 a number?
if not why?
If you're dealing with infinitesimals, then you can get numbers between 0.999... and 1. However, in standard arithmetic / calculus, they don't exist. You only really get them when dealing with hyperreals or surreals.

It should be obvious why 0.999...1 isn't a number. The "..." signifies that the last set of numbers repeats to infinity. So the last 9 is repeating.

What 0.999...1 therefore says is that you have an infinite string of 9's after the decimal point...and then a 1.

Well, that just doesn't make any sense. You can't have an infinite string of 9's followed by anything. If something is infinitely long, it doesn't have an end. There is nowhere to place your 1, because doing so would end the number...making it finite.

Your calculation doesn't make sense in this respect either.
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Atheist Forums › Science › Mathematics v
If 0.999(etc) = 1, does 1 - 0.999 go to zero?

Messages In This Thread
If 0.999(etc) = 1, does 1 - 0.999 go to zero? - by Euler - January 26, 2013 at 7:59 pm
RE: If 0.999(etc) = 1, does 1 - 0.999 go to zero? - by Tiberius - February 21, 2013 at 7:12 am

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