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Unread 08-08-2005, 17:25
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Alan Anderson Alan Anderson is offline
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Re: impossible statements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Anderson
".9999 continuing" is equal to 1.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sanddrag
How do you figure? You are always going to have that really small (but existant) 0.00000...00001 left over. I see 0.999 continuing as approaching 1 but I am inclined to think it never actually gets there.
Your position is based on the false impression that the 9s eventually run out, leaving a bit left unaccounted for. They don't; that's what repeating decimals are all about.

Figuring it is easy:
Code:
       x = 0.9999...
     10x = 9.9999...
 10x - x = 9.9999... - 0.9999...
      9x = 9
       x = 1
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurri..._of_0.99999... for other ways to demonstrate it.

Last edited by Alan Anderson : 08-08-2005 at 17:27.
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