2006-11-03 06:41:28 · 13 answers · asked by Durty Criz 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
infinity and negative infinity
2006-11-03 06:44:26 · answer #1 · answered by timc_fla 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What are the largest and smallest numbers?
One of the largest named numbers is called a googol, which is a 1 followed by 100 zeroes:
There is also a number called a googolplex which is 10^googol power or:
The American system uses centillion to mean 10^303, but other systems use centillion to mean 10^600.
Yocto- is a prefix in the metric system used to represent 10^-24, a very small number.
Some say that the largest number is infinity.
Others say there is no largest number, because you can always add 1 to a number to get the next highest number.
In higher level math courses, larger numbers are often represented by infinity and the smaller numbers are represented by a "negative" infinity. To understand the notion of infinity, think about the path to infinity as a road. You see signs on the road that point to zero in one direction and to infinity in the other. You can go to zero, and you can get closer to infinity, but you will never get there, because you can always take another step
2006-11-03 06:48:14 · answer #2 · answered by Brite Tiger 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Simple question. The answer is 1. One total universe. Nothing more, nothing less. Biggest and smallest all rolled into 1.
2006-11-03 06:55:48 · answer #3 · answered by vmmhg 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure you already know that the number line progresses infinitely in either direction, ergo there is no such thing as a biggest or smallest number.
2006-11-03 06:49:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There ain't any. Numbers just keep going on. I can add 1 to any number you give me and get a larger number. What do you mean by 'small'? If you mean in absolute value, then it's zero. Otherwise smaller means more to the left on a number line. I can always subtract 1 to get a smaller number.
Infinity is not a number. It's more of a concept.
2006-11-03 06:46:50 · answer #5 · answered by modulo_function 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
theoretically there isn't a biggest or smallest number because the number line in infinite and continues in both directions forever;
2006-11-03 07:04:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are no biggest or smallest numbers it is considered (Negative infinity or Positive infinity)
2006-11-03 06:50:55 · answer #7 · answered by CV 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Infinity is not a number. It's a concept that says that numbers continue "to infinity," i.e., there is no largest number.
By smallest, i.e., magnitude or absolute value, zero is the smallest number
2006-11-03 06:50:52 · answer #8 · answered by arbiter007 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Like the universe, there are no known bounds with numbers. The smalles number would be represnted by -infinity, and the largest +infinity.
2006-11-03 06:45:08 · answer #9 · answered by Chris B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Numbers extend infintely in both directions. We just haven't put names to all those infinte numbers (not that we ever could). Even then, infinity can be more of a concept than an actual number.
2006-11-03 06:50:45 · answer #10 · answered by jessi.swimchick 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are no such things. Infinity and its negative are just concepts used to define endlessness. If you need an exact value, there is no answer.
2006-11-03 15:34:40 · answer #11 · answered by Akilesh - Internet Undertaker 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋