So, I recently got into an argument on another forum relating irrational numbers, and non terminating numbers.
This fellow user swears six ways from Sunday that I'm wrong and he is right and that pi does in fact end, and for that matter, that 1/3 as a decimal ends.
Now, anyone who paid attention in math class in middle school knows that he is wrong, that pi is called an irrational number for a reason, and that 1/3 does in fact not end, thats why its called a repeating, non-terminating decimal.
Now, you could argue that we havent calculated pi to enough places and that it could have an end, but that would be false because during the process of long division you would end up dividing every digit from 0-9 and would always have a remainder no matter which digit you wind up with. (Dont know how else to explain that, but I know what i mean :egrin: lol)
Anyways, this kids argument is that everything has a beginning and an end, and that our math is messed up because he is clearly the one who is right (regardless of what hundreds of years of study say) but anyone who grasps the concept of infinity knows that not everything has a beginning or an end in mathematics.
You can peruse the thread here:
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=offtopic&thread.id=2156247
But what im really after, is a discussion on the possible logic this kid (maybe adult?) is using, because no matter how hard I try I cannot possibly grasp the same logic that he is using.
The way I see it, is that if the concept of infinity exists, and if pi is classified as an irrational number, then by definition that means it never ends. I would think that even if i had no idea what pi actually is.
Also, just by doing the long division on paper you can see clearly within two steps that 1/3 converted to a decimal in fact will never end.
Fixed, because I failed at... being smart?