On Apr 29, 2:00=A0pm, "Storm" <N...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Please bear with me if I am not following a protocal for the group.
>
> My step daughter is in 9th grade math (she is in 7th grade).
> She asked me earlier in the week if .999 going off in to infinity is the
> same thing as 1.
>
> I said no. =A0Close...but no.
> I am by far no pro at math.
> She insists its the same, because her math teacher said so...
>
> But, I do seem to remember a math teacher telling me that mathmatically,
i=
t
> can be the same as one. =A0In reality it is not. =A0He told me to think
of=
two
> lines. =A0To be parallel, the need to be the same distance apart...say
1. =
=A0If
> they are .999999 apart...eventually they will meet. =A0And, no matter
how =
far
> out you go in to infinity, you still will not reach 1.
> Best I can think of is that this is a mathmatical concept, that exists
on
> paper....
> Can anyone here give an answer that makes sense to me, or her?
> Thanks....
The key concept to understand here is the concept of infinity. If the
the .9999's stop at some point then the numbers are different.
Otherwise they are the same. Infinity is a hard concept to truly
grasp.
Cheers
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