.999~ = 1, Agree?

[DMBFan23]

to everyone who says "no", here is my challenge.

0.9999999999999...(infinite number of decimals) < Y < 1

solve for Y, since two nonequal real numbers are guaranteed to have a number between them.

(yes your counter challenge could be "define that number on the left more precisely." in that case we'd have to talk about sequences and limits and blah blah blah. this is just a way to think about it.)

[Homer]

[ QUOTE ]
Listen. I really ain't interested. The mathematicians here are coming across as pompous, I was arguing about this pomposity, but you guys keep banging away at the maths and how people that aren't familiar with your proofs/constructs are pathetic/morons etc You need to grow up a bit.

But you win. Just, next time, take these math things in SMP, where they should be.

[/ QUOTE ]

I always assumed mathematicians by their very nature were pompous. This thread doesn't surprise me whatsoever.

[Sephus]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you never told me which step(s) of the proof you thought was invalid.

do you believe that repeating decimals don't exist? .9~ is not equal to 1 because there is no such thing? is that it?

[/ QUOTE ]

you come off as the guy who told einstein "do you really believe that F !=MA? go kick a soccer ball you goof, or weigh something..."

i hope you don't teach 7th grade...

edit: i meant F != [constant mass]*A

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah it would be totally irresponsible to teach 7th graders about repeating decimals, being shrouded with controversy as they are.

[strunks]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you never told me which step(s) of the proof you thought was invalid.

do you believe that repeating decimals don't exist? .9~ is not equal to 1 because there is no such thing? is that it?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, it's this:

The numbers represented aren't the same:
a) 0.99999...
b) 1.00000

For most people, it's not entirely unreasonable to see them as different. No matter what your proofs say, this will be true for most people.

Or is that entirely non-obvious to you? Can you not see that?


Also, when people are called pathetic, morons etc for seeing this difference, people without knowlege of the artificial constructs in which you've been trained, you do appear as pompous douches.

[/ QUOTE ]

I distinctly remember being taught that 0.9~ = 1 in a classroom setting in grade 7 or 8. The proof used here is the exact proof that the teacher used to convince the class of 13 year olds that this is true.

This is not high level math. So people who don't understand this stand a good chance of being morons. And people who do understand this are not really being pompous. This is general public school knowledge.

[LearnedfromTV]

[ QUOTE ]

Also, when people are called pathetic, morons etc for seeing this difference, people without knowlege of the artificial constructs in which you've been trained, you do appear as pompous douches.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

Very few people in the world care about this sort of problem. Being right about this sort of problem is not a great victory, and to the extent that it is a great victory, its celebration should be restricted to the circle of people who give a [censored]. Outside of that circle, a polite "this is mathematical fact, not opinion, but you shouldn't be expected to know that or care about it. If you do, here's an explanation..." is appropriate.

Unfortunately, some smart people think their particular esoteric knowledge is a worthy of an ego-trip.

[Stevolution]

[ QUOTE ]
Proof 1:
1/3 = .333333...
2/3 = .666666...
1/3 + 2/3 = .999999... = 1.

[/ QUOTE ]

tl;dr, but this "proof" sucks ass.

[milliondollaz]

[ QUOTE ]
to everyone who says "no", here is my challenge.

0.9999999999999...(infinite number of decimals) < Y < 1

solve for Y, since two nonequal real numbers are guaranteed to have a number between them.

(yes your counter challenge could be "define that number on the left more precisely." in that case we'd have to talk about sequences and limits and blah blah blah. this is just a way to think about it.)

[/ QUOTE ]

haha, Y = .999~ + (1/infinity)

just giving you a hard time...as a side note though, they taught me in high school NOT to use algebra to define/proof infinite concepts.

i thought you could only apply algebra to NUMBERS and i didn't think infinity was one...

[Homer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you never told me which step(s) of the proof you thought was invalid.

do you believe that repeating decimals don't exist? .9~ is not equal to 1 because there is no such thing? is that it?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, it's this:

The numbers represented aren't the same:
a) 0.99999...
b) 1.00000

For most people, it's not entirely unreasonable to see them as different. No matter what your proofs say, this will be true for most people.

Or is that entirely non-obvious to you? Can you not see that?


Also, when people are called pathetic, morons etc for seeing this difference, people without knowlege of the artificial constructs in which you've been trained, you do appear as pompous douches.

[/ QUOTE ]

I distinctly remember being taught that 0.9~ = 1 in a classroom setting in grade 7 or 8. The proof used here is the exact proof that the teacher used to convince the class of 13 year olds that this is true.

This is not high level math. So people who don't understand this stand a good chance of being morons. And people who do understand this are not really being pompous. This is general public school knowledge.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is irrelevant what level of math this is. To call someone pathetic simply for not grasping a concept is incredibly weak.

[DMBFan23]

[ QUOTE ]

haha, Y = .999~ + (1/infinity)

[/ QUOTE ]

touche [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[LearnedfromTV]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you never told me which step(s) of the proof you thought was invalid.

do you believe that repeating decimals don't exist? .9~ is not equal to 1 because there is no such thing? is that it?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, it's this:

The numbers represented aren't the same:
a) 0.99999...
b) 1.00000

For most people, it's not entirely unreasonable to see them as different. No matter what your proofs say, this will be true for most people.

Or is that entirely non-obvious to you? Can you not see that?


Also, when people are called pathetic, morons etc for seeing this difference, people without knowlege of the artificial constructs in which you've been trained, you do appear as pompous douches.

[/ QUOTE ]

I distinctly remember being taught that 0.9~ = 1 in a classroom setting in grade 7 or 8. The proof used here is the exact proof that the teacher used to convince the class of 13 year olds that this is true.

This is not high level math. So people who don't understand this stand a good chance of being morons. And people who do understand this are not really being pompous. This is general public school knowledge.

[/ QUOTE ]

When you convince a class of thirteen year-olds you don't challenge the definition of .999999... You write it on the board, multiply by ten, get 9.9999999... and subtract the dots from the dots and the kids go along with it. This is a proof if you take certain things for granted. It isn't a complete proof. I can prove 2+2=4 to a five year old with four pencils, that doesn't make my proof complete.