Math Is Fun Forum

ryleybob

Novice

Registered: 2025-09-25

Posts: 1

A Simple Explanation That Makes It Click

I used to find it strange that 0.999... equals 1, until I looked at it from a different angle. If you set x = 0.999..., then 10x = 9.999... — subtracting the two gives 9x = 9, so x = 1. It’s all about how infinite decimals behave in real numbers. This helped me appreciate how math handles limits and infinite processes. Has anyone here found a different explanation that really helped the concept click?

ktesla39

Member

From: Nepal

Registered: 2024-10-08

Posts: 466

Website

Re: A Simple Explanation That Makes It Click

Let, x = 1/3 = 0.33333333............

or, 3x = 1 = 0.999999999.....
or, 0.9999999999...... = 1

Simple enough?

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I know my value. Anyone else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.

Jai Ganesh

Administrator

Registered: 2005-06-28

Posts: 52,105

Re: A Simple Explanation That Makes It Click

Hi ryleybob,

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It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.