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
Re:Poll: Does point 9 recurring equal one?
by darkxanthos on Tuesday July 07, 2009 @08:22PM
(#692956)
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.
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.