• @Shampiss@sh.itjust.works
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    257 days ago

    Divide 1 by 3: 1÷3=0.3333…

    Multiply the result by 3 reverting the operation: 0.3333… x 3 = 0.9999… or just 1

    0.9999… = 1

    • @ArchAengelus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      67 days ago

      In this context, yes, because of the cancellation on the fractions when you recover.

      1/3 x 3 = 1

      I would say without the context, there is an infinitesimal difference. The approximation solution above essentially ignores the problem which is more of a functional flaw in base 10 than a real number theory issue

      • @Shampiss@sh.itjust.works
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        24
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        7 days ago

        The context doesn’t make a difference

        In base 10 --> 1/3 is 0.333…

        In base 12 --> 1/3 is 0.4

        But they’re both the same number.

        Base 10 simply is not capable of displaying it in a concise format. We could say that this is a notation issue. No notation is perfect. Base 10 has some confusing implications

      • @chaonaut@lemmy.world
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        107 days ago

        This seems to be conflating 0.333...3 with 0.333... One is infinitesimally close to 1/3, the other is a decimal representation of 1/3. Indeed, if 1-0.999... resulted in anything other than 0, that would necessarily be a number with more significant digits than 0.999... which would mean that the ... failed to be an infinite repetition.