The very last number of numbers?

Question

What is the last number? 123456789...but does it have an end?

Answer 1

There is not last number of numbers. In the binary system, or for any system for that matter, you could always add digits to it and the number would increase by at LEAST a power of 10.



Infinity could be the last number, but contrary to popular belief, it is not a number, rather a term stating that something has no end

Answer 2

The last number is 4

Answer 3

I agree with all the answers above. So, I'm not trying to disagree with what has been said. But in some cultures, numbers do have a limit.



For example, in the Inupi'k culture, an Eskimo tribe, they count base 20 with a sub base of five. Until the Russian traders migrated to their area their number system topped out at 400 (20 x 20) because they never needed to count much higher. When the Russian influence came in, the Inupi'k adopted the Russian numbers for the numbers above 400.



Also I read on the BBC news site of a tribe in Brazil. They had a number for 1, a number for 2 and anything more than 2 was just called "many"



So,

1 + 1 = 2

1 + 2 = many

2 + 2 = many



So for this culture, their numbering system topped out at many.



What I find interesting about these is that their math was/is very practical. It doesn't go beyond what they needed for their substanence living.

Answer 4

There is no last number. Suppose x was the last number. x is not equivalent to x + 1, and x + 1 < x implies that 1 < 0, so it must be true that x + 1 > x, thus x is not the last number. Since x was arbitrary, no number in this system is last.

Answer 5

The last number someone made up.I just made up the number six dilokabantollion.At the very moment it was made that was the last number.

Answer 6

No, hence the concept of infinity. The biggest number with any sort of classification is googol which is 10^100. To realize how big this number is, you need to realize there is only about 10^83 points in the entire known universe (a point is basically a dot in space), however, you can always go bigger with googol plus one or googol^googol^googol. Therefore you realize that no matter how big of a number you get, you can always something on to it.

Answer 7

There simply is no last number. Our system of numbers is not a limited set of values as are the English alphabet; our numbering system is as vast as the universe itself.

Answer 8

Let's assume there is a "last"(largest) number and let's call it "X". But X+1 is a larger number, so there is no largest number.

Answer 9

the last number of the question is Infinity because there is no other way to know the end but one can resolve to infinity

Answer 10

There is no largest number. I you try to think of the largest number you can think of, then you can always add 1 to it and make it larger.

Answer 11

I would propose that "infinity minus one" would be the last number conceivable, assuming that "infinity" is not attainable, but anything less than "infinity" IS attainable.

Answer 12

aleph-one