(ELI5) How did the Mathematical Limit solved Zeno’s paradox?
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Zeno’s paradox was based on a fundamentally flawed assumption…that an infinite sum (a summation with an infinite number of terms) couldn’t add up to a finite number.
Figuring out mathematical limits gives a way to actually solve infinite sums. Specific to Zeno’s Paradox, it proved that 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + … = 1. Not “close to 1”, not “kinda sorta infinitely close to 1”, not “infinity”, exactly 1.
So there’s no paradox. The arrow crosses an infinite number of steps in a finite time.
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