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There is no largest real number, because you can always make a real number larger by adding 1 (or 137.035 or 6.023·10<sup>23</sup>) to it, and no smallest real number, because you can always make a real number smaller by subtracting from it.
There is no largest real number, because you can always make a real number larger by adding 1 (or 137.035 or 6.023·10<sup>23</sup>) to it, and no smallest real number, because you can always make a real number smaller by subtracting from it.
Every real number is finite. One way to see this is to observe that you cannot subtract infinity from itself—the result is indeterminate—but, for any real number x, x - x = 0, exactly.
Every real number is finite. One way to see this is to observe that you cannot subtract infinity from itself—the result is indeterminate—but, for any real number '''''x, then ''''' x - x = 0''''', exactly.
It is sometimes convenient to have a set of numbers that ''does'' include infinity. For example, in computer programming, "real arithmetic" is often done by a specific system defined by standard IEEE 754-1985; this system is built in to modern processor chips. It provides for values which print out as INF and -INF and which participate in arithmetic as if they were numbers. Thus, division by zero, which was often an error that stopped calculation on older machines, can be a legal operation which simply produces a +INF or -INF result. The system of numbers implemented in IEEE 754 is known in mathematics as the "affinely extended real numbers."
It is sometimes convenient to have a set of numbers that ''does'' include infinity. For example, in computer programming, "real arithmetic" is often done by a specific system defined by standard IEEE 754-1985; this system is built in to modern processor chips. It provides for values which print out as INF and -INF and which participate in arithmetic as if they were numbers. Thus, division by zero, which was often an error that stopped calculation on older machines, can be a legal operation which simply produces a +INF or -INF result. The system of numbers implemented in IEEE 754 is known in mathematics as the "affinely extended real numbers."