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  3. Is mathematical possibility of 0 equal to impossible??

Is mathematical possibility of 0 equal to impossible??

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  • E ensger

    I've got an intersting question - see above. If you think, you have the answer, answer this. I am part of a lottery with infinite numbers. So the possibility is 1 / infinity = 0. But is it imposiblo to have the right nuber??? So, what means possibility of 0??

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    TintinV3ck
    wrote on last edited by
    #22

    Yes, you have a small chance. However, the possibility of finding the value of infinity is better! Does that answer your question?

    Regards, Tintin

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    • E ensger

      I've got an intersting question - see above. If you think, you have the answer, answer this. I am part of a lottery with infinite numbers. So the possibility is 1 / infinity = 0. But is it imposiblo to have the right nuber??? So, what means possibility of 0??

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      Gary Wheeler
      wrote on last edited by
      #23

      The problem is that you are trying to reason about a mathematical concept in the wrong language. You are trying to reason using essentially 'verbal' language, whereas you should be using mathematics:        ∞ lim Σ 1/n = 0      n = 0


      Software Zen: delete this;

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      • E ensger

        I've got an intersting question - see above. If you think, you have the answer, answer this. I am part of a lottery with infinite numbers. So the possibility is 1 / infinity = 0. But is it imposiblo to have the right nuber??? So, what means possibility of 0??

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        Zac Howland
        wrote on last edited by
        #24

        The probability of selecting the right number in an infinite set is not equal to 0. It approaches 0. Basically, your chances are so small, that it might as well be 0, but in this case, it is not impossible, just highly improbable.

        If you decide to become a software engineer, you are signing up to have a 1/2" piece of silicon tell you exactly how stupid you really are for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week Zac

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        • J Jorgen Sigvardsson

          :-D

          -- Simulcast on Crazy People's Fillings

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          Bassam Abdul Baki
          wrote on last edited by
          #25

          That forum's dead. Not too many smart people after all. :-D


          "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" - Homer Simpson Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn

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          • E ensger

            That is rifht. but the mathematics of posibility says, it is 0. That's the question.

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            Zac Howland
            wrote on last edited by
            #26

            ensger wrote:

            but the mathematics of posibility says

            I think you mean in probability ... and no, it isn't 0. It is stated to be approaching 0 as n grows infinitely large. You can never pick any number N where 1/N = 0, but as N gets bigger and bigger, the probability decreases. The probability range for selecting a single number from a set of N numbers is (0, 1] -- that is, every decimal up to but not including 0 and everything up to and including 1. You can never have a probability of 0 in this setup.

            If you decide to become a software engineer, you are signing up to have a 1/2" piece of silicon tell you exactly how stupid you really are for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week Zac

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            • G Gary Wheeler

              The problem is that you are trying to reason about a mathematical concept in the wrong language. You are trying to reason using essentially 'verbal' language, whereas you should be using mathematics:        ∞ lim Σ 1/n = 0      n = 0


              Software Zen: delete this;

              B Offline
              B Offline
              Bassam Abdul Baki
              wrote on last edited by
              #27

              Your equation ses both a limit and a sum as a variable. Reminds me of Homer and his Pythagorean theorem quote.


              "Marge, don't discourage the boy! Weasling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals! Except the weasel." - Homer Simpson Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn

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              • G Gary Wheeler

                The problem is that you are trying to reason about a mathematical concept in the wrong language. You are trying to reason using essentially 'verbal' language, whereas you should be using mathematics:        ∞ lim Σ 1/n = 0      n = 0


                Software Zen: delete this;

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                Zac Howland
                wrote on last edited by
                #28

                You don't want to sum the probabilities for his calculation: lim (n->inf) 1/n = 0 However, that does not mean that your probability is 0, it just means it is very very small as n gets bigger.

                If you decide to become a software engineer, you are signing up to have a 1/2" piece of silicon tell you exactly how stupid you really are for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week Zac

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                • G Gary Wheeler

                  The problem is that you are trying to reason about a mathematical concept in the wrong language. You are trying to reason using essentially 'verbal' language, whereas you should be using mathematics:        ∞ lim Σ 1/n = 0      n = 0


                  Software Zen: delete this;

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                  D Offline
                  Dario Solera
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #29

                  What is that supposed to be? This is the correct formula:

                  lim (1/n) = 0;
                  n->∞

                  :)

                  ________________________________________________ Tozzi is right: Gaia is getting rid of us. Personal Blog [ITA] - Tech Blog [ENG] Developing ScrewTurn Wiki 1.0 final, now in English, Italian and German.

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                  • Z Zac Howland

                    You don't want to sum the probabilities for his calculation: lim (n->inf) 1/n = 0 However, that does not mean that your probability is 0, it just means it is very very small as n gets bigger.

                    If you decide to become a software engineer, you are signing up to have a 1/2" piece of silicon tell you exactly how stupid you really are for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week Zac

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                    Dario Solera
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #30

                    Zac Howland wrote:

                    However, that does not mean that your probability is 0, it just means it is very very small as n gets bigger.

                    Agreed. The distribution is uniform between 0 and n, and the probability of a winning is exacty 1/n, if you have to bet on one single number.

                    ________________________________________________ Tozzi is right: Gaia is getting rid of us. Personal Blog [ITA] - Tech Blog [ENG] Developing ScrewTurn Wiki 1.0 final, now in English, Italian and German.

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                    • D Dario Solera

                      What is that supposed to be? This is the correct formula:

                      lim (1/n) = 0;
                      n->∞

                      :)

                      ________________________________________________ Tozzi is right: Gaia is getting rid of us. Personal Blog [ITA] - Tech Blog [ENG] Developing ScrewTurn Wiki 1.0 final, now in English, Italian and German.

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                      Gary Wheeler
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #31

                      That's what you get for typing a formula on a Friday after a conference call with idiots and no 5 mile run at noon :-O.


                      Software Zen: delete this;

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                      • E ensger

                        That is rifht. but the mathematics of posibility says, it is 0. That's the question.

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                        Dave Kreskowiak
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #32

                        That wasn't the question. The question was "But, can you have the right number?" The answer is yes, since the mere existance of a comparison between two numbers exists. What is the probability of picking that number? NEAR 0. The probability depends on how many 0's you want to look at between the decimal point and the first non-zero number in the result of 1/infinity. If you don't consider all of them, then yes, the probability is 0. If you consider the exact precision of 1/n, then there is a chance you can pick the right number. Even 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 0

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                        • E ensger

                          That's all true - I understand. but we have some methematics - here we call it 'Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung' (possibility-calculation), that works with somthing like this. And the results are good!!

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                          Vikram A Punathambekar
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #33

                          My German is limited to about half a dozen words :-O but I found that Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung means probability.

                          ensger wrote:

                          And the results are good!!

                          I don't understand what you mean by this. Could you please elaborate?

                          Cheers, Vikram.


                          "whoever I am, I'm not other people" - Corinna John.

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                          • E ensger

                            I've got an intersting question - see above. If you think, you have the answer, answer this. I am part of a lottery with infinite numbers. So the possibility is 1 / infinity = 0. But is it imposiblo to have the right nuber??? So, what means possibility of 0??

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                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #34

                            Infinity and 0 are not numbers.

                            The tigress is here :-D

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