Theos-Talk Archives (June 2002 Message tt00113)

Ademma Indraka wrote:
> Wouldn't infinity divided by infinity equal to one , just as pi
> divided by pi. And if irresistible force met an immovable object it
> would lead to a kind of chemical change. Leading to something as
> immaculate as the big bang.

What is the total number of rational numbers divided by the total
number of integers? Both are infinite, but since one can make a 1:1
correspondence between all the integers and all the rational numbers,
and still have plenty of rational numbers left over, the answer is
clearly much greater than 1. (Mathematicians call these orders of
infinity. If you can draw a 1:1 correspondence with every member of one
infinity and another infinity, they are said to have the same order. For
example, while it would appear at first glance that if one compares the
number of integers to the number of even integers, there are more even
integers than integers. But, if you define an even integer as 2x, where
x is an integer, then there is a 1:1 correspondence between every
integer and every even integer). 

> Now one last. This is another one they answered when
> I was in university, or answered indirectly anyway,
> since they gave us all the bits and pieces of the
> puzzle. Why are planets round instead of square,
> hexagonal, or whatever?

It's a combination of gravitational and rotational forces, combined the
basic laws of motion. 

Bart Lidofsky