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Suppose we need to prove $0.999999\ldots=1$ and apply this : $$\frac{1}{11}=0.09090909090\ldots\\\frac{10}{11}=0.90909090909\ldots$$ adding them left hand side $$\frac{1}{11}+\frac{10}{11}$$right hand side $$0.09090909090\ldots+0.909090909090\ldots=0.999999999\ldots$$so $$\frac{11}{11}=1=0.999999999\ldots$$

Is my idea true ? If there is mistake or missing something, please hint me.

Khosrotash
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    Yep; that's essentially the same proof as $\frac{1}{3} = 0.\overline{3}, \frac{2}{3} = 0.\overline{6}, \frac{3}{3} = 0.\overline{9} = 1$. – platty Aug 07 '17 at 20:24
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    I don't see what's the point for a "proof". $1=0.\overline{9}$ by definition. –  Aug 07 '17 at 20:26
  • @Jack OP is probably a teacher and needs a "pedagogical proof". I'm also a teacher, and most of my pupils think that $1-0.\bar 9$ is a tiiiiny number. That is, most of my pupils that think something. – ajotatxe Aug 07 '17 at 20:28
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    @Jack : That's not a definition. One must prove that $1$ is the smallest number that cannot be exceeded by any number of the form $0.,\underbrace{9\ldots \ldots 9}_{\large n \text{ digits}},. \qquad$ – Michael Hardy Aug 07 '17 at 20:29
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    As noted above, the proof is identical to the proof using $\frac{1}{3} = 0.\overline{3}$ and $\frac{2}{3} = 0.\overline{6}$. If you accept that this is rigorous, then your proof is just as rigorous. I am uncomfortable, however, accepting it as rigorous without some appeal to limits. – Xander Henderson Aug 07 '17 at 20:30
  • @MichaelHardy: Before one says "I want to prove $0.999999\cdots=1$", one must tell what is $0.999999\cdots$ first, doesn't one? And one way to define the expression $0.999999\cdots$ is by a series, which by a direct calculation of geometric series gives $1$. Well, then, one could of course argue that one does not get $0.\overline{9}=1$ for the definition per se but a calculation using the definition. –  Aug 07 '17 at 20:35
  • Related: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/11/is-it-true-that-0-999999999-dots-1 – JMoravitz Aug 07 '17 at 20:37
  • Two pieces of information in OP are missing: (1)if one sticks to the foundation level of rigorousness, one needs to define first what is the infinite decimal expansion of real numbers; (2)one needs also define what the addition + means for two infinite decimal expressions. –  Aug 07 '17 at 20:40
  • @Jack : I don't think this question is merely asking whether it's true. – Michael Hardy Aug 07 '17 at 20:49
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    @Jack : What you say "one could of course argue" is what I had in mind. – Michael Hardy Aug 07 '17 at 20:50
  • @MichaelHardy: I agree that it should be about "proof verification". I have edited the question and retracted my close vote. –  Aug 07 '17 at 20:54
  • About $1 - 0.\overline{9}$ being something really tiny. Ask "Name a number that is between $0.999999....$ and $1$. It can't but $1.x$ because that is to big. so it must be $0.x$. If the first digit is less than $9$ that is too small. If all the digits are $9$ then it is equal to $0.9999....$ and not between. So there must be a digit that is not $9$. Find the first digit that is not $9$. This number is small the $.9999....$ so it is not between. There cant be any numbers between numbers between." This may not be convincing but it counters the "rounding error" argument. – fleablood Aug 08 '17 at 04:04
  • Your proof is as good as any pre-analysis proofs (and better than many). But all need to define what an infinite decimal is and why arithmetic works on it. That's the real issue. Then 1= .9999 can be proven many ways. The hard part is overcoming the instinct that .9999.... is not a rounding down. – fleablood Aug 08 '17 at 04:09

4 Answers4

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If, as I suspect, you need a pedagogical way to convince (not only to prove) that $0.\bar 9=1$, I suggest also this other approach. You can use both, of course.

Ask your pupils what is the smallest positive number. Make them remember that $0$ is not positive, and that we are speaking of real numbers (or numbers with digits after the point), so $1$ is not the answer.

Make them note that this very small number is divided by $2$, we get an even smaller number. So, much like there are no biggest number because any big number can be multiplied by $2$ (a fact your pupils should easily accept), there is also no smallest positive number.

After this, explain that if $1-0.\bar 9$ were positive, it would be the smallest positive number, a thing that can not exist, so it must be $0$.

ajotatxe
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    And if you are asking a question for educational purposes, I'd suggest you to add the "education" tag. – ajotatxe Aug 07 '17 at 20:42
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It is certainly true, however, if you are considering the recurring decimal $\frac{1}{11}=0.0909\ldots$, then we can directly operate with the numbers: $$0.999\ldots \le\frac{0.999\ldots +1}{2}=\frac{1.999\ldots}{2}=0.999\ldots \le1 \Rightarrow 0.999\ldots =1.$$ Because: $$x\le\frac{x+y}{2}\le y,$$ $$x=\frac{x+y}{2} \Rightarrow x=y.$$

farruhota
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I like your proof. I like how $0.9090909090....$ and $0.090909090909....$ dovetail so we don't get any "there must be a rounding error" doubt.

But I think the real question is why is so constantly hard to believe that $1 = 0.\overline{999}$ that we keep coming up with proof after proof and yet our audience keep thinking it's some strange semantics and not really "equal" equal but just "as close as we like" equal.

We accept that infinite decimals exist because if we divide two numbers where the divisor has a prime factor other than two or five will repeat forever. In high school we sort of treat irrational numbers as a kind of magic, which we really shouldn't; If we have infinite decimals that do repeat, then we can obviously have many, many more infinite decimals that don't repeat because infinite repeating must be statistically unlikely.

We kind of put up willing blinders on this. We can go from terminating decimals to rational number and from rational numbers back and forth. But we go from rational numbers to repeating decimals one way. If go from repeating decimals "back" to rationals, but we think of it as a sort of "party trick" (it's practically a joke with a punch line: "well if you multipy by 1000 and subtract 1 the entire infinite string cancels out! Gotcha!!!"). So we think of an infinite repeating decimal as a "filing anomaly"; the repeating string is just a funny way of writing a remainder.

When it comes to going from infinite non-repeating decimals to irrationals, we think of it as some form of estimating. As for going from an irrational to an infinite decimal, I have a sinking feeling that students think of that as meaningless nonsense that teachers make up. We've all heard "No-one actually knows what pi is, right? It goes on forever so it doesn't actually have a value, right?"

I think to counter this three things should be made explicitly clear.

1) Before we even begin talking about infinite decimals we should clear up estimating and rounding. We have a tendency to think of $19.95$ as being closer "associated" with $19$ than with $20$ and even $19$ as being closer associated with $10$ than with twenty. Because it is obviously less we tend to always round down. That seems natural. Somehow taking the exact same reasoning the the other direction-- since it's obviously more we should round up, is intuitively something we never do.

So if we see something that begins $19.92$.... and then the ending is blurred out or not available for some reason (or goes on forever) we shouldn't think "Hmm, that's a tiny bit more than $19.92$ so it is about $19.92$". We should think "Hmm, it's somewhere between $19.92$ and $19.93$."

2) Infinite decimals make sense and actually DO equal some value. A decimal with $n$ digits has an exact value. Adding a decimal makes a number with a precise $x \le x + b*10^{n+1}< x*10^{n}$ where $b$ is a digit. Doing this an infinite number of times makes this infinitely precise and is a value. The fact that we can't do this in our finite lifetimes isn't really relevant. The value still exists.

3) The decimal $x=5.6938503......$ with infinite decimals is exclusively between $5.6938503 \le x \le 5.6938504$. We can't tell if it is equal to or strictly larger than $5.6938503$ until we check a further decimal. We can't tell if it is equal to or strictly less than $5.6938504$ until we check a further decimal.

"Wait!" I hear a million students shout out "Surely $x < 5.6938504$ because $3< 4$!". Well, that's intuition but it is wrong. The remaining digits past the three may still all add to $0.0000001$. We can't know without further checking.

Okay..... So this would be my high-school level proof that $0.\overline {999} = 1$.

Note: $0.9 \le 0.\overline{999} \le 1$.

Obviously $0.9 \ne 0.\overline{999}$ because the next digit is $9 > 0$. We can continue this indefinitely but there is no need as we don't care what numbers $0.\overline{999}$ are larger than. We care what number $0.\overline{999}$ is.

To argue that $0.\overline{999} < 1$ we'd have to check the further digits and show that $0.0\overline{999} < 0.1$ and to do that we'd have to check further digits. We can't feasibly prove it with this method as we are finite and mortal.

So at this point we do not know if $0.\overline{999} < 1$ or if $0.\overline{999} = 1$.

If $0.\overline{999} < 1$ then there must be some number $y$ so that $0.\overline{999} < y < 1$. What could that number possibly be?

$.9 < y < 1.0$ so $y = b.a.....$ where $b=0$ because $b < 1$ and $1=1.00000...$ is the smallest number that starts with $1.$ And $a \ge 9$. So $a = 9$ as there is nt single digit more than $9$.

And $y \ne 0.\overline{999}$ because $y > 0.\overline{999}$. So $y$ must have at least one digit that is not equal to $9$. What is the first digit that is not equal to $9$? Let's say it is the $n$-th digit and it is $a$. And $a < 9$.

So $0.9999......99a \le y \le 0.9999......99(a+1) \le 0.9999....999$. But $0.9999....999 < 0.9999...\overline{999} = 0.\overline{999}$. So we have $y < 0.\overline{999}$ which contradicts $0.\overline{999} < y < 1$.

So there can not be any number between $0.\overline{999}$ and $1$. So $0.\overline{999}< 1$ is not possible.

So $0.\overline{999}= 1$.

fleablood
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It's essentially correct. There are of course, alternative ways to it as well.

Consider the following:

Let $x=0.999...$

Then, $10x = 9.999...$

So, $10x -x = 9.999... -0.999...$

or, $9x = 9$, and therefore $x=1$, giving us: $1=0.999...$

This process uses the idea of a Geometric Progression converging to a certain point.