Why do numbers go on for infinity?

Question

i am seriously curious...i mean, i know you can keep counting till the end of your days, but why do numbers not have an end?

-am i posting this in the right section? if not, please let me know where i can re-post this question. thank you!-

Answer 1

The set of natural numbers is infinite because it was "defined" that way. This is the 5th so called "Peano axiom" (due to Giuseppe Peano in the 19th century). It states that every natural number has a successor. Whence there are infinitely many.



Axioms are basically assumptions in mathematics that as opposed to theorems or propositions are agreed upon or self-evident but can not be proven. The most famous axiom is probably the so-called axiom of choice - a very controversial axiom.

Answer 2

Infinity is a mathematical concept so you can divide a number an infinite number of times.

Counting,you can only approach infinity and you can count until the universe comes to an end.

Answer 3

Numbers are the representation of physics in action. We don't have a base ten system because we have ten fingers, in fact it isn't even a base ten system it's base nine (0 isn't a number) (google=Marco Rodin). Everything is dividable into infinity and can extend in an infinite amount of space. Infinities are all that exist. Infinities create finite boundaries (google=Nassim Haramein). There is a new Relativistic Field Theory out there that gets rid of the strong and weak force while at the same time accounting for torque.

Answer 4

Try this....



Think of the biggest integer there is. Let x be that number.



Well, I can always add 1 to a number, so think about x + 1. It's bigger than x. But x is the biggest number there is? This is a contradiction, so your initial assumption must be incorrect (namely that there is a biggest number).





For a fun explanation, visit "Hotel Infinity"...

http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math/workbk/infinity/inhotel.html

Answer 5

I think the better question would be "how can they not"? On what arbitrary principal would you decided "this is the limit beyond which numbers do not apply"? This makes no sense. Numbers are totally abstract and "abstract" has no pragmatic limits.

Answer 6

Because there is no largest finite number. Any number, no matter how large, can be made arbitrarily larger.



Numbers are like a ring, finite but unbounded. There is no start and no end but you can still put it in your pocket.

Answer 7

The Universe is greedy, and while you can look at anything and say it is enough there is always a need for more.

Answer 8

they are linear, yet the closet number to infinity would be.... you got it.. zero