Topic awaiting preservation: The Greatest Above All? Or not? (Page 1 of 3)

Can anyone give me the greatest number in the universe? No, it is not an infinite number, and Calvin and Hobbes numbers don't count (meaning eleventy-twelve). This number is a completely legitimate number.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
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42.

But eleventy-twelve takes a very close second place.

"The score is still Q to 12!"

Ay no, I'm quite serious. There is a number that is greater than any number you can create.

And Raptor: 42 is the answer to the greatest question in life. This isn't the greatest question, just the greatest number

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>



[This message has been edited by Ruku (edited 09-12-2003).]

I guess perhaps 1 is the greatest number, because there is only 1 god, and god is the greatest. Blah. Blah Blah.
http://www.polarbearandco.com/Jinniyah.html

[This message has been edited by Gilbert Nolander (edited 09-12-2003).]

dangit wes, you beat me to it

chris


KAIROSinteractive

Ruku:

quote:

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There is a number that is greater than any number you can create.

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Yes its:

(any number you can create) + 1

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

69

:::11oh1:::

I'm inclinded to think that n+1 is an expression and not a number.

I don't get it. I'm eager to hear the answer.

. . : slicePuzzle

All valliant attempts, but whatever number you guys create times zero is zero.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>

Ohhhhh I see its a riddle - its been a while since we did this.

Then my guess is that it is the great Leveller of all numbers the Omega to their Alpha: 0

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

No... How could zero be the greatest number? It has no value whatsoever. And zero times zero equals zero too.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>



[This message has been edited by Ruku (edited 09-12-2003).]

Ruku: Just to be sure we are all on the same page - this is a riddle and you know the answer and you want us to come up with the answer.

With that as my starting point I'll go with:

Is it i - the square root of -1?

I'm guessing it is great as in 'Alexander The' and not > but.........

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

0i is still zero though, Emps.

Along similar lines to Emps, my vote goes to pi.

[Edit: Which I realize is still 0 when multiplied by 0.

[This message has been edited by Lord_Fukutoku (edited 09-12-2003).]

I'd think about it a bit longer, but I'm still trying to figure out how to change an NFA with two states & two epsilon transitions into a DFA. It's proving to be um... difficult ><

Intution says it's some sort of undefined number. Like x/0 (which when multiplied by 0, doesn't exist).

[This message has been edited by Raptor (edited 09-12-2003).]

n/0? Isn't that infinite?

Eh, n/0 is "undefined." The limit of n/x as x goes to zero from the positive side is infinity, though.

The answer can't be any finite complex number, since all such numbers times zero equals zero. According to Ruku, it's not infinity either, nor is it eleventy-twelve.

Well, I'm stuck.

Is it NaN? =)

Ah yes, you guys are getting closer... I said it had to be a complex number and Emps and the rest of you guys are on the right track... No its not the sq.rt. of -1. NaN?

And yes I guess you could call this a riddle... I was trying to come up with some rhyme but I stink at poetry.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>





[This message has been edited by Ruku (edited 09-13-2003).]

quote:

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Is it i - the square root of -1?

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Emperor, you can't write the square root of a negative number. i is defined by i²=-1

Otherwise, anybody could write very funny things.



Therefore : -1 = 1 hehehe

Also, the mathematic student in me screams when he sees expressions divided by 0, it is forbidden to write such expressions


As to the answer, it is probably 'just a joke' with a number, because I don't know any complex number that would not be equal to 0 if multiplied by 0. Some expressions could fullfil this requirement, but we wouldn't be talking of numbers but rather of mathematical expressions or limits.



Edit : using an image rather than ambiguous notations.

[This message has been edited by Moon Shadow (edited 09-13-2003).]

Quite a beautiful post Moonshaddow... I don't really know how you came to 1=(-1)... Anycase you didn't find the answer... The other guys were on the right track though.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>

8

Nope....... 8*0=0. Nullified. Should I give off a hint?

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>

Actually, I think krets had something there ...

Ruku, NaN is a JavaScript value which stands for "Not a Number." You get it by multiplying a number by a string or something.

Moon Shadow: I don't understand how you started off your little equation - how is -1 equal to the cube root of itself?

Slime :

Any root of 1 is equal to 1. Here I played with a negative number under the root (which is usually forbidden) and the power of the root to achieve a negative number.

You have to agree that :

(-1)^3 = (-1) * (-1) * (-1) = -1

Therefore if you apply a cubic root to both the left and right parts of this equation, you'll find that the cubic root of (-1)^3 (= -1) is equal to the cubic root of (-1). Try with a calculator, you'll see.

More generally, any number written a^(x/y) can be written also like the y-th root of a^x.

The former equation I posted is rigorous, except that it is forbidden in mathematics to write negative numbers under a root, because it can lead to such results.

Ruku :

A little hint would be welcome indeed.

[This message has been edited by Moon Shadow (edited 09-14-2003).]

quote:

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Also, the mathematic student in me screams when he sees expressions divided by 0, it is forbidden to write such expressions.

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Actually, that's not true. It's a common myth that you "can't divide by zero." In reality, you can divide by zero all you want - you simply get the value "undefined" by doing so. 3/0 = undefined.

A number of theorems also include the condition that they only work when something is "a non-zero real number."

However, neither of these facts mean that you *can't* divide by zero.

Similarly, you can take the square root of a negative number all you like, and you get the undefined value by doing so. [edit: correction, you get a complex/imaginary number by doing so.]

That said, I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with the equation you posted. I don't believe the problem is taking the cubic root of -1, I believe that may be legal. I suspect the problem actually lies in the conversion from (-1)^(6/2) to cuberoot((-1)^2), which may not be a legal conversion for negative numbers. I don't know, I'll have to do some research on it or something.

[This message has been edited by Slime (edited 09-14-2003).]

Both Raptor and Slime are very close to the answer... BIG HINT. But be prepared to defend your answer.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>

my guess: the largest number in the universe is unknown.



[edit - typo]

[This message has been edited by velvetrose (edited 09-15-2003).]

Ah well this is a very controvercial number. And yes, whoever said that, it is NaN (Not a Number). Or at least a "real" number. Sorry 'bout being so late on this one.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>

http://www.cs.utah.edu/flux/fluke/html/sa-flukeref/node20.html

Yep, Slime's right.
The correct conversion is: (-1)^(2/6) = (sixth-root(-1))^2 ... Not (-1)^(2/6) = (sixth-root(-1^2))

..any number you care to state + 2

Is it indeterminate?

Lord_Fukutoku: I'm not actually sure if there's a problem with the conversion from (-1)^(2/6) to 6th-root((-1)^2). I think the problem is more subtle. I'm wondering if it has to do with the subtle difference between "square root" and the radical sign.

how 'bout x+1, with x being the currently known (or theorized) highest number.

Xpirex and Counterfeit Bacon, both your numbers multiplied by zero are zero. Not the greatest number. Slime, if you ment, "indefinate", yes it is.

---
"The Mystery of Life"
Vol. 841, Ch. 26
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my beleif! ...at least for now." - Chrono Trigger
><>

what does multiplying a number by 0 have to do with it being the greatest number?
I thought all numbers when multiplied by 0 are 0, even fractions or anything.

[This message has been edited by Gilbert Nolander (edited 09-16-2003).]

Not necessarily. As has been pointed out, there are expressions that when multiplied by zero, don't necessarily equal zero.

(n/2) * 2 = n

(n/0) * 0 = NaN (and definitely != n)

you can't divide a number by 0

ah.nevermind....

The answer is 2.54