Submitted by Resinate1 t3_zyzi9w in Showerthoughts
101_210 t1_j28vuun wrote
Reply to comment by Future_Seaweed_7756 in There’s just as many numbers between 0 and 1 as there is from 0 to infinity. by Resinate1
There is indeed an higher order of infinity for the real numbers between 0 and 1 than integer between 0 and infinity.
The proof (simplified) goes as follow:
For each integer between 0 and infinity (let’s call that number x) you can match it with a number between 0 and 1 that contains a number of 1 after the dot equal to our integer x. So you get:
1 -> 0.1
2->0.11
3->0.111
4->0.1111
etc.
As you can see, going to infinity, we will have two matched sets where every element is different. However, if we add a 2 just after the dot in the real number set, we get 0.21, 0.211, etc, an entirely NEW set, of which no elements were contained in any of our previous sets. There is actually an infinite number of these transformations that can be made to the real set, and none that can be made to the integer set.
The integer set is named a countable infinity, where although there is an unlimited number of element, if you choose two different elements, there is a finite number of elements between them.
The real numbers are an uncountable infinity, where if you chose any two elements, there is still an infinite number of elements between them.
Future_Seaweed_7756 t1_j2e7srg wrote
This makes a lot of sense thank you
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