Difference between revisions of "Zeno's paradox"

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:<math>\sum_{i=1}^\infty \frac{1}{2^i}</math>,  
 
:<math>\sum_{i=1}^\infty \frac{1}{2^i}</math>,  
  
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(see [[Series (mathematics)]]) or more commonly,
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(see [[Series (mathematics)]]) which has the value
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:<math>1</math>
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:<math>1.</math>
 
  
 
[[Category:Philosophy]]
 
[[Category:Philosophy]]
 
[[Category:Mathematics]]
 
[[Category:Mathematics]]

Revision as of 03:24, July 31, 2008

Zeno's paradox, formulated by the polytheist Zeno the Greek, is a philosophical paradox about the number ½ . It states that a person can never traverse from one point to another point because he would first go half the distance, then half of what remains, then half of what remains next, and then half of that half. This process keeps continuing indefinitely by halving subsequent distances repeatedly. This argument seems to suggest no one can make this trip in finite time, but this is obviously not true.

Mathematically, Zeno's paradox asks if Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{8} + ...} has a value (notice each successive term is half of its predecessor). Mathematicians can express this value as:

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^\infty \frac{1}{2^i}} ,

(see Series (mathematics)) which has the value

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1}