Why is infinity not a number?

Intuitive Explanation and Popular Usage
Hence infinity is a concept rather than a number. Put another way, infinity is the concept that there is no largest number. Infinity is used to describe quantities which go on forever without end.

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Why is infinity not a real number?

Infinity is a concept, not a real number. Something without a beginning or an end. It is impossible to quantify infinity. Infinity cannot be measured.

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Is infinity not a number?

Infinity is not a number. Instead, it's a kind of number. You need infinite numbers to talk about and compare amounts that are unending, but some unending amounts—some infinities—are literally bigger than others.

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Why is infinity not infinite?

Aristotle postulated that an actual infinity was impossible, because if it were possible, then something would have attained infinite magnitude, and would be "bigger than the heavens." However, he said, mathematics relating to infinity was not deprived of its applicability by this impossibility, because mathematicians ...

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Is infinity ∞ a real number True False?

Infinity is a "real" and useful concept. However, infinity is not a member of the mathematically defined set of "real numbers" and, therefore, it is not a number on the real number line.

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How Infinity Works (And How It Breaks Math)

42 related questions found

What is bigger than infinity?

The concept of infinity varies accordingly. Mathematically, if we see infinity is the unimaginable end of the number line. As no number is imagined beyond it(no real number is larger than infinity). The symbol (∞) sets the limit or unboundedness in calculus.

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How is infinity proven?

Although the concept of infinity has a mathematical basis, we have yet to perform an experiment that yields an infinite result. Even in maths, the idea that something could have no limit is paradoxical. For example, there is no largest counting number nor is there a biggest odd or even number.

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Why is infinity so confusing?

Infinity isn't any ordinary number.

Equations have been manipulated so that infinity is used like other integers, Cheng writes in her book. But infinity is not an ordinary number and can't be treated as such, Cheng writes in her book. Adding, subtracting, or multiplying with infinity leads to a terribly confusing mess.

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Is infinity basically 0?

The concept of zero and that of infinity are linked, but, obviously, zero is not infinity.

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Is anything truly infinite?

So the conclusion is: science (that is, physics) cannot establish existence of infinite quantities. There is nothing physically infinite.

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Can I add 1 to infinity?

Addition Property

If any number is added to infinity, the sum is also equal to infinity.

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Does infinity have an end?

Infinity has no end

Infinity is the idea of something that has no end. In our world we don't have anything like it. So we imagine traveling on and on, trying hard to get there, but that is not actually infinity.

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Who created infinity?

infinity, the concept of something that is unlimited, endless, without bound. The common symbol for infinity, ∞, was invented by the English mathematician John Wallis in 1655. Three main types of infinity may be distinguished: the mathematical, the physical, and the metaphysical.

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Why is infinity illogical?

If infinity exists, any finite quantity is infinitely small compared to infinity. This is a logical contradiction. That's it.

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Why does infinity look like 8?

In modern mysticism, the infinity symbol has become identified with a variation of the ouroboros, an ancient image of a snake eating its own tail that has also come to symbolize the infinite, and the ouroboros is sometimes drawn in figure-eight form to reflect this identification—rather than in its more traditional ...

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Do numbers ever end?

Of course, even in clock arithmetic, the numbers don't really end. Once you reach the number 12, you can go back to one and start again. If you're curious about numbers, chances are you've also heard of infinity. Infinity is a bit weird, Fiedler said.

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What is 1 infinity equal to?

Let's recall the important notes we learned in this discussion. Infinity is not a real number and is only used as a representation for an extremely large real number. Dividing 1 by infinity is equal to zero.

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What is the number before infinity?

Answer and Explanation:

There is no number before infinity. It is possible to represent infinity minus one as a mathematical expression, but it does not actually equal anything or have any real mathematical value.

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Why is 1 infinity not 1?

The problem here is that, in reality, ∞ is not a number. It is used to represent an unimaginably big number, but you obviously can't tell which. Therefore, infinity itself is not a defined number.

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Why can't we imagine infinity?

A second reason to believe humans cannot grasp infinity is that the concept must contain an infinite number of sub-concepts, which is too many for our finite minds.

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Can infinity cancel out infinity?

It is impossible for infinity subtracted from infinity to be equal to one and zero. Using this type of math, it would be easier to get infinity minus infinity to equal any real number. Therefore, infinity subtracted from infinity is undefined.

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Is time finite or infinite?

As a universe, a vast collection of animate and inanimate objects, time is infinite. Even if there was a beginning, and there might be a big bang end, it won't really be an end. The energy left behind will become something else; the end will be a beginning.

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Who was the first person to think of infinity?

He said that the Greek philosopher who first introduced the concept of infinity was Zeno of Elea in the 400s B.C. "Zeno found that whenever he introduced real infinities into the world, he ran into paradoxes," Clayton said.

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What is the biggest number besides infinity?

A googol is 10 to the 100th power, which is 1 followed by 100 zeros. While this is an unimaginably large number, there's still an infinite quantity of larger numbers. One such number is googolplex, which is 10 to the power of a googol, or 1 followed by a googol of zeros.

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What is the highest number ever?

The thing is, infinity is not a number, but a concept or idea. A "googol" is the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes. The biggest number with a name is a "googolplex," which is the number 1 followed by a googol zeroes.

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