A Gazillion Is Equal To Zero

Algebra Level 3

Here's my proof that 1 000000000 0 infinitely many 0’s 1\underbrace{000000000\ldots0}_{\text{infinitely many 0's}} is equal to 0.
In which of these steps did I first make a flaw in my logic?

Step 1 : Let X = 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s X = \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} .

Step 2 : Divide both sides by 10, X 10 = 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s . 9 . \dfrac{X}{10} = \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} .9 \; .

Step 3 : Take the difference between these two equations:

X X 10 = 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s . 9 9 X 10 = 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s ( 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s + 0.9 ) 0.9 X = 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s ( 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s + 0.9 ) 0.9 X = 0.9 X = 1 \begin{aligned} X - \dfrac{X}{10} &=& \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} - \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} .9 \\ \dfrac{9X}{10} &=&\underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} - ( \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} + 0.9) \\ 0.9X &=& \xcancel{\underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}}} - ( \xcancel{\underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}}} + 0.9) \\ 0.9X &=& -0.9 \\ X &=& -1 \end{aligned}

Step 4 : Substitute back the value of X X and add 1 to both sides to the equation.

999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s = 1 999999999 9 infinitely many 9’s + 1 = 1 + 1 1 000000000 0 infinitely many 0’s = 0 \begin{aligned} \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} &=& -1 \\ \underbrace{999999999\ldots9}_{\text{infinitely many 9's}} + 1&=& -1+1 \\ 1\underbrace{000000000\ldots0}_{\text{infinitely many 0's}}&=& 0 \\ \end{aligned}

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 No flaw at all, your logic is perfect!

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2 solutions

Arihant Samar
Mar 19, 2016

In the first step we take x x to be equal to infinitely many 9 s 9s ,which is basically \infty . This is the first wrong step since \infty cannot be equated since it is not any number.Moreover arithmetic operations cannot be performed on such an equation. Since the question asks for the first wrong step the answer is Step 1 1

Correct. Thankyou

Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 2 months ago
Ahmed R. Maaty
Mar 19, 2016

x = x=\infty so step 1 is the answer.

Correct. Thankyou

Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 2 months ago

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