Maths query

[MyUserName]

The answer is 0, unless you're trying to divide by 0.

ROFL - I should pay more attention!!!

[xoggoth]

But the poor little 1 required to bring it up to exactly 1.0 recurring is wandering forever and never finding a home. Everywhere it looks for a place to stay it finds a nasty 9 that tells it "no room here, try next door". Really sad. Sniff.

[MyUserName]

This is incorrect. There is no answer because there is, in effect, no question. Asking: "what is x divided by zero?", is the same as "what is x divided by...?"

In practicle terms, it the same as asking someone: "how long is...?". You haven't finished the question so there is no answer (and it certainly isn't infinity).

I think that these are just two sides of the same coin. The question does not make sense because the mathematical operation is impossible because even if you take 0 away from x an infinite amount of times it will never reduce to 0.

[jamesbrown]

Are you guys still arguing?

This isn't a question that has a lay answer based on how you feel about numbers. Real numbers do not have nonzero infinitesimals, by definition of the real number system. The difference between 1 and 0.9r is an infinitesimal. If the real number system does not admit nonzero infinitesimals, then 1=0.9r, by definition.

Again, knock yourselves out:

0.999... - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

[MyUserName]

Are you guys still arguing?

This isn't a question that has a lay answer based on how you feel about numbers. Real numbers do not have nonzero infinitesimals, by definition of the real number system. The difference between 1 and 0.9r is an infinitesimal. If the real number system does not admit nonzero infinitesimals, then 1=0.9r, by definition.

Again, knock yourselves out:

0.999... - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

You do realise that now we are talking about division by 0, right?

[jamesbrown]

You do realise that now we are talking about division by 0, right?

I don't know what 99.9r% of you are talking about, but it's kinda funny.

[d000hg]

That's conjecture. Develop a theory and prove it.

There's no evidence that .999 to infinity will equal 1.

It's conjecture that 3 thirds = 1? Or it's conjecture that .3 recurring is a third? Because that's easy to prove, in fact it is a proof.

[scooterscot]

It's conjecture that 3 thirds = 1? Or it's conjecture that .3 recurring is a third? Because that's easy to prove, in fact it is a proof.

I use 9 and you bring in a 3. I can't work under those conditions.

[d000hg]

Since you think 45% is a majority, we probably can't explain this to you.

[expat]

0.999 recurring is an expression which is impossible to evaluate. The closest approximation which is possible to evaluate is 1. That doesn't mean they are the same. Is it as good as 1? yes. Is it equal to one? clearly not as it's impossible to evaluate.

It is not impossible to evaluate. It may be impossible to evaluate in a finite time by an iterative method, but that is not the same thing.

1/3 = 0.333...
3 * 1/3 = 1
3 * 0.333... = 0.999...

That has just evaluated it.

This is presuming that we are dealing with the Real Numbers. I could do you some other axiomatic systems if you like, with varying results.