I like how people continue to oversimplify the relationship between ratios (4/3) and approximations (1.34). People also employ rounding, to make numbers nicer, and to obey the grand necessity of significant figures (uncertainty).
Thank you for trying to convince someone who does not have the fundamental base nor the knowledge to be able to intelligently argue, nor to discern proper mathematical terminology. Thank you. Lots. Seriously.Originally Posted by Pureghetto
As for the topic, whether I believe that .999... is == 1, is irrelevant. Once you hit limit theory, it doesn't matter, since a function can approach a number without end, but never get there, but it may very well be so close, that you may as well, just finish it off and round it.
If you're going to quarrel about how an approximation, which represents an uncertain definition of a ratio, and whether or not multiple of those will equal whatever number you're trying to get to, I suggest you look over some of those yummy number postulates, such as
A/B = ?
as long as B != 0
and A == B
therefore, A/B = 1.
And some others. To me, I'm all about making life easier on yourself, as long as it's within a reasonable range, depending on the question, percentage of error, but if I view .999... == 1, if the .999 stops, then it is its own number, but since .999... does not end, you can't really make a mature decision about it until it reaches its conclusion.
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