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0.999...

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0.999..., asymptotes and infinity 2004-12-17
From Mike:
My Name is Mike and I teach high school. I had a student ask me to explain why .9 repeating is equal to 1. Then he asked me about an asymptote, or why a parabola or any other curve for that matter can continually approach a value (like 1) and yet never attain a value of 1. He is thinking that these two should represent the same concept and yet they contradict each other. Do you have a solid explanation for him? Of by the way he is a 7th grader. Great little thinker!!!!!
Answered by Claude Tardif and Harley Weston.
0.99999... 2002-09-26
From Erica:
Yesterday in my 8th grade math class we were being taught how to convert a Repeating Decimal into a fraction. Since I, for some odd reason, seem to understand math better than the rest of my classmates, i began to drown out my teachers explaination for the rule. While she was about half way through with explaining mixed decimals i came up with an unsolvable question. Like I said before, I understand how to turn a repeating decimal into a fraction, but how would I turn a repeating .9 into a fraction? We all know it would equal 9/9, but doesn't 9 over 9 also equal 1? Even though it comes very close to one, it never really equals one. I'm very confused about this and i would love it if you could clear this up for me.
Answered by Penny Nom.
Repeating decimals 2001-04-21
From Sarah:
Hi, I'm working on a project for school. The theory I choose was "When turned into a fraction, a repeating decimal has a denometor that is a multiple of three." I have a couple of questions about this topic. My first question is, have you ever heard of this, and what can you tell me about it? My second question is, when I was testing this theory I came across .999... now, when this is a fraction it is 9/9 which is equal to one. The denometor is a multiple of 3, but it's a whole number. I don't understand how a decimal can be equal to a whole number since a decimal is a piece of a whole number. Please don't just show me a math problem, I don't want to see a math problem. I want to see an explanation of this theory and the decimal .999...
Answered by Penny Nom.
1 = 0.999... 2001-04-13
From Joan:
I have a middle grade math question for you. I would like to know why .9999... = 1 ? I can not use algebra to show this or the following: We agree that 2 = 2 and that 2-2 = 0, so

1.00000......
-0.99999.....
----------------
0.000000......
and
0.000... = 0 therefore 0.9 = 1
----------OR--------------- 1/3 = 0.333333 and 3 X 1/3 = 1, so if 3 X 0.333... = 0.999... then 0.999... = 1

My teacher says that I can not use the above example to show why this is true, and that I must use a couple different examples. He says that there are several other ways. Do you know any? I could really use the help because I can't think of any other ways to show this is true. Thanks for any help you can give.


Answered by Penny Nom.
 
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