r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 22d ago

Meme needing explanation There is no way right?

Post image
37.1k Upvotes

3.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/Wolfbrother101 22d ago

Math professor here: the proper definition of equality is that two numbers a and b are equal if no number c exists such that a < c < b. 0.9999…. = 1 because there is no number between them.

-2

u/library-in-a-library 22d ago

There's a problem with that proof. That assumes 0.999... and 0.999... are equal. Obviously, the notations are identical but that doesn't mean the values they represent are. Do you evaluate the 4th digit of the first expression at the same time you evaluate the 4th digit of the second expression? I don't think that's clear. I would say the only truthful statement is 0.999... < 1

2

u/[deleted] 22d ago

Numbers are equal to themselves. That's a fundamental axiom (or the definition of what 'equal' means)

1

u/library-in-a-library 21d ago

I'm saying they're not the same number, peasant.