Inifinity. A number SO BIG that you can't ever reach it. 

Some people say it is the number that is equal to the largest number you can think of plus one.

So, we know what 1/10 is, we know what 1/100 is, we know what 1/1,000,000,000 is (one billionth), but what is 1/Infinity?

Only if Infinity=2 ... it don't

Alright. I've been thinking (Ragnarok!) and I've come up with this;

1/infinity = 0? X
Infinity is -not- a number, thus a mathmatical symbol cannot do anything to it. Neither is a variable, it's a concept (For example, you're not going to have 1/law, are you?). Thusly, infinity is not a number, but it is a concept, thus cannot be used in such a way.
But, if you're using infinity as a short-hand version of a long number, a really really long number, then express it like so;
x = The Overall number.
Infinity = (x+1) Continuously.
That's not too clear, but I'll try and clean it up. X is a number, say 5. You have 5 people + 1 person you have 6. x stands for the number of people you have, thus you go back to the start and you x+1 again to get 7 people and you loop it.
To show off my QBasic cleverness, here it is in a machine language;
REM START
$x=0
Do
x=$x
$x=x+1
Loop
END

- In all technicalities that'd work.

So, taking that you mean Infinity in that way, 1/infinity would be infinitesimally small, not 0.

See  http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/62486.html (click link)

Last edited by justlookingforthemoment (2005-05-30 20:11:07)

Yes. There's actually no point of the END, as I've added no loop exit factor.

Well, I did.

I think it should be 1 infinitieth or just plain 0.

In mathematics, 1 divided by zero is consrued to be infinity.....
There's a reason for that; when 1 is divided by an extrememly small number, like
0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001,
the resultant is a very big number.
On the other hand, When 1 is divided by an extremely large number, say a centillion,
the resultant is so small that it is almost zero, repeat ALMOST zero, not zero....
But what happens when we divide 1 by a number as big as infinity?
The result is zero.
When 1 is divided by an infinitely large number, the result is an infinitely small number,
and when this infinitely small number is added to itself infinite number of times,
the result would be exactly 1, not any more.
This is difficult to prove, but the logic behind it is perfectly okay.
If you are interested in knowing more about infinity,
use any search engine and get information about
Hilbert's Hotel.

Wow, this kind of conversation is usually reserved for Buddhist Monks sitting on the side of mountains in the Himalayas.

The Existence of Infinity.

I guess if you can imagine it, then it exists, at least in your mind.

Infinity is not one of the "Real" numbers (ie it is not a 3 or a 7.01, or even a -1/7th), but nonetheless we can still use it.

For example:

y = 5 - 1/x

What happens as x -> inifinity? Answer: y -> 5.

Zach wrote:

To show off my QBasic cleverness, here it is in a machine language;
REM START
$x=0
Do
x=$x
$x=x+1
Loop
END

that would probably result in "overflow error" =P

abhishek_rttc wrote:

a) If infinity appears in the numerator the fraction takes the value infinity
b) If infinity appears in the denominator the fraction takes the value zero.

Ahhh ... but who came up with the rules?

And what is infinity/infinty ? Does rule a) or b) apply?