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Mathematics

What is Xeno's Paradox

Xeno's paradox explains that if you are traveling from point A to point B you must travel half of the distance to point B before traveling all of the distance. At that point, you must again travel half of the remaining distance. If you continue to travel half of the distance you will never reach point B.

Example:

The distance from point A to point B is 200m.

0m~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ 200m
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- +-+-+-|
A~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ B

To get to point B you must travel half of the distance first, which is 100m.

0m~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~100m~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~200m
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- +-+-+-|
A -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ B

From this point you must travel half of the remaining distance, which is 50m from point B.

0m~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~100m~ ~ ~50m~ ~ ~ ~ 200m
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- +-+-+-|
A -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|-+-+-+-|~ ~ ~ ~ ~ B

Again from this point, you must travel half of the remaining distance, which is 25m from point B

0m~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~100m~ ~ ~50m~ ~25m~ 200m
|-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- +-+-+-|
A -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-|-+-+-+-|-+-+-| ~ ~ B

Of course in real life you could just walk over and touch point B. But in theory, you will never reach point B. That is why it is called a paradox.

This Paradox gives the sequence;

(200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5...)

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