(sorry to see you downvoted - because it is actually sometimes tought to grasp but...)

it doesnt approach one- your thinking of a nice graph where the line does approach but never touch, however 0.9... is NOT a function, cannot be plotted. It exists for infinite length.

Any distance it is from 1 is constant.

I interpreted repeating 9's as:

the function that writes some number of repeating 9's (replacing the zero in the last decimal place with a 9). This function approaches 1, does it not?

f(1) = 0.9

f(2) = 0.99

f(3) = 0.999

so f as defined above approaches 1

I interpreted the question in the context of numerical precision. Since we are usually not dealing with infinite precision, the two are not equal.

I am familiar with the obvious: 1/3 == 0.3333... and 3 * 1/3 == 1 so 0.9999... == 1

ahhh No the OP was referring to the value at the limit as x->inf of your function f.

huh?

he means f(infinity).

Were not at all dealing with f(very big numbers, increasing)

Ok.. I guess I misunderstood the question.

yes and sometimes the integrals of those graphs converge on a value...

PG should be using this poll to disable user accounts.

that's harsh, bro :) I can smell the axe body spray all over your remark.

Read this for some supporting evidence. (sorry for being snarky thought this poll linked to the article.)