mathematical concept of something without any limit

Infinity is something which is boundless, limitless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by ∞, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Notation infinity symbol
Factsheet
Notation infinity symbol
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Infinity
Infinity - Wikipedia
5 days ago - From the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity has been the subject of many discussions. In the 17th century, with the introduction of the infinity symbol and the infinitesimal calculus, mathematicians began to work with infinite series and what some mathematicians (including l'Hôpital and Bernoulli) regarded as infinitely small quantities, but infinity continued to be associated with endless processes.
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-1-infinity-3
What is 1/infinity? - Quora
Answer (1 of 49): Usually, \frac{1}{\infty} is nonsensical, because \infty is not a number; it's a symbol used in limits to mean “without limit”, and doesn't really have meaning outside the concept of limits.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › science › mathematics
Infinity | Definition, Symbol, & Facts | Britannica
April 6, 2006 - Infinity, the concept of something that is unlimited, endless, without bound. Three main types of infinity may be distinguished: the mathematical, the physical, and the metaphysical.
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Math is Fun
mathsisfun.com › numbers › infinity.html
What is Infinity?
We can sometimes use infinity like it is a number, but infinity does not behave like a real number. To help you understand, think "endless" whenever you see the "∞": It says that when something is endless, we can add 1 and it is still endless.
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Learn ZOE
learnzoe.com › home › what is 1 infinity in math?
What is 1 Infinity in Math? | Learn ZOE
July 11, 2024 - In set theory, this isn’t just speculation; it’s a fundamental truth. The set of natural numbers is infinitely large, but it’s only the tip of the infinite iceberg. Imagine listing all the natural numbers between 0 and 1 – it’s impossible because they are not countable.
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Physics Forums
physicsforums.com › mathematics › general math
What Does 1 Divided by Infinity Equal? • Physics Forums
March 27, 2003 - 1/∞≠0, however, lim x→∞ (1/x)=0. which is to say that 1/∞ is the closest one can get to zero without being zero. What number system are you using? This is definitely not true of, for example, the extended real number system.
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Story of Mathematics
storyofmathematics.com › 1-infinity
Solving 1 Divided by Infinity - The Story of Mathematics - A History of Mathematical Thought from Ancient Times to the Modern Day
March 21, 2023 - Solving $1/\infty$ is the same as solving for the limit of $1/x$ as $x$ approaches infinity, so using the definition of limit, 1 divided by infinity is equal to $0$. Now, we want to know the answer when we divide 1 by infinity, denoted as $1/\infty$, which we know does not exist since there exists no number that is largest among all.
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Mathnasium
mathnasium.com › math-centers › sherwood › news › what-infinity-sher
What is Infinity?
June 15, 2022 - It is often treated as if it were a number that counts or measures things: “an infinite number of terms, but it is not the same sort of number as natural or real numbers. For example, A list of natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,…….no matter how long you count for, it can never reach the end of all numbers.
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BYJUS
byjus.com › maths › infinity
Infinity
October 10, 2022 - It is often treated as if it were a number that counts or measures things: “an infinite number of terms, but it is not the same sort of number as natural or real numbers. For example, A list of natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,…….no matter how long you count for, it can never reach the end of all numbers.
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MathsisFun
mathsisfun.com › calculus › limits-infinity.html
Limits to Infinity
The simplest reason is that Infinity is not a number, it is an idea. So 1 ∞ is a bit like saying 1 beauty or 1 tall .
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Superprof
superprof.co.uk › resources › academic › maths › calculus › limits › properties of infinity
Properties of Infinity
Infinity (∞) represents something that goes on forever. For example: The sequence of natural numbers {1, 2, 3, 4, …} never ends.
Top answer
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What $1^\infty$ is, or is not, is merely a matter of definition. Normally, one would only define $a^b$ for some specific class of pairs of $a,b$ - say $b$ - positive integer, $a$ - real number.

When extending the definition of exponentiation to more general pairs, the key thing people keep in mind is that various nice properties are preserved. For instance, for $ b$ - positive integer, you want to put $a^{-b} = \frac{1}{a^b}$ so that the rule $a^ba^c = a^{b+c}$ is preserved.

It may make sense in some context to speak of infinities in the context of limits, but this is usually more a rule of thumb than rigorous mathematics. This may be seen as extending the rule that $(a,b) \mapsto a^b$ is continuous (i.e. if $\lim_n a_n = a$ and $\lim_n b_n = b$, then $\lim_n a_n^{b_n} = a^b$) to allow for $b_n \to \infty$. For instance, you may risk saying that: $$\lim_{n} (2+\frac{1}{n})^n = 2^{\infty} = \infty$$ If you agree to use rules of this kind, you might be tempted to also say: $$\lim_{n} (1+\frac{1}{n})^n = 1^{\infty} = 1$$ but this would lead you astray, since in reality: $$\lim_{n} (1+\frac{1}{n})^n = e \neq 1$$ Thus, it is safer to leave $1^\infty$ undefined.


A more thorough discussion can be found on Wikipedia.

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When your teacher talks about $0/0$ or $\infty/\infty$ or $1^\infty$ he/she's not talking about numbers, but about functions, more precisely about limits of functions.

It's just a convenient expression, but it should not be confused with computations on simple numbers (which $\infty$ isn't, by the way).

When $1^\infty$ is referred to, it is to mean the following situation: there are two functions $f$ and $g$ defined in a neighborhood of $c$, with the properties

  1. $\lim\limits_{x\to c} f(x)=1$

  2. $\lim\limits_{x\to c} g(x)=\infty$ (or $-\infty$)

(of course, $c$ can also be $\infty$ or $-\infty$).

Saying that $1^\infty$ is an indeterminate form is just a mnemonic way to say that you cannot compute

$$\lim_{x\to c}f(x)^{g(x)}$$

just by saying “the base goes to $1$, so the limit is $1$ because $1^t=1$”. Indeed this can be grossly wrong as the fundamental example

$$\lim_{x\to\infty}\left(1+\frac{1}{x}\right)^{x}=e$$

shows.

Why is that? It's easy if you always write $f(x)^{g(x)}$ as $\exp(g(x)\log f(x))$ and compute the limit of $g(x)\log f(x)$, then applying the properties of the exponential function.

In the case above we'd have

  1. $\lim\limits_{x\to c} \log f(x)=0$

  2. $\lim\limits_{x\to c} g(x)=\infty$ (or $-\infty$)

so the limit

$$\lim_{x\to c}g(x)\log f(x)$$

is in the other $\infty\cdot0$ indeterminate form (that you should know). Why is it “indeterminate”? Because we have many instances of that form where the limit is not predictable by simply doing a (nonsense) multiplication:

\begin{gather} \lim_{x\to 0+}x\cdot\frac{1}{x}=1\\ \lim_{x\to 0+}x^2\cdot\frac{1}{x}=0\\ \lim_{x\to 0+}x\cdot\frac{1}{x^2}=\infty \end{gather}

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Study.com
study.com › courses › math courses › math 104: calculus
Solving 1 Divided by Infinity - Lesson | Study.com
August 25, 2020 - Graphically speaking, this says that if we look at the graph of y = 1/x, we'll see that as x gets larger and larger, or the further we go along the x-axis to the right, the closer the graph will get to the line y = 0. However, since we can't actually reach infinity to evaluate 1 divided by infinity, the graph won't ever actually reach the line y = 0.
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Mathnasium
mathnasium.ca › mathblogs › mathblog_posts › view › 622b8b69-f94c-4c6e-a765-291dac1f07e5
Ask Education: What is Infinity? (Part 1) | Mathnasium
Infinity is not a number. It is a concept representing a quantity with no bounds. Infinity is greater than any real number, so there is no “biggest” number. Whereas “finite” means we could eventually count to an end, infinite (or not finite) means never-ending and indefinite.
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › english › infinity
INFINITY | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
INFINITY definition: 1. time or space that has no end: 2. a place that is so far away that it cannot be reached: 3. a…. Learn more.
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Superprof
superprof.co.uk › resources › academic › maths › calculus › limits › one to the power of infinity
One to the Power of Infinity
... Infinity is not a number—it’s a concept. When you see something like , it usually comes from a limit where the base is approaching 1 while the exponent is growing without bound.
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Chess.com
chess.com › forum › view › off-topic › what-is-1-infinity-1
What is 1/Infinity? - Chess Forums - Chess.com
November 17, 2023 - Infinity is not a number , it just represents uncountability. It is a concept. So normal numerical algebra cannot be applied to it. So 1/infinity is not 0, It is undefined.