Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

LARGE NUMBERS AND INFINITY

Addin Delia Nur Azfi Muhajir (15301241037)
Mathematics Education C 2015
Abstract
Infinity is difficult concept to understand, especially in mathematics. Not
all students and teachers are able to understand it. In this paper, writer
tries to explain infinity by starting it with large numbers; names of large
numbers and special large numbers. Discussing infinity is not completed
without mentioning its history; when the first discovery of infinity is and
how people used to understand it, also the popular Zenos paradox. Then,
we will continue with the cardinality of infinite sets to know what and how
big is infinity. At the end of this paper, writer reviews a journal about a
research which had been done in Cyprus to know 43 elementary school
teachers perception of infinity. Another journal which we will be going to
review shows the level of 40 students understanding of infinity in Finland.

What is the largest number ever known in this universe? Well, the
answers may vary, based on the one whom we asked to. Children who are
still in Kindergarten will likely to answer a million or a billion. Elementary
students answer with a trillion, a million billion, or a billion trillion. High
schoolers may answer even larger numbers such as, a quadrillion, a billion
trillion, or a thousand quadrillion. And, some of us will answer the question
with infinity. We all know that infinity is, well, infinite. But, which one of
these are the largest? Is infinity the largest number? Is infinity larger than
any number possibilities?
The answers to both of the question are: no. Firstly, infinity is not a
number. Secondly, there is no such largest number. Because there is a
bigger number to every number known, like the popular phrase: there is
sky above a sky. It iss endless, the number will keep going higher and
higher, larger and larger, and nobody knows the end.

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Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

A. Large Numbers
What are the requirements for a number to be called large
number? According to Wikipedia, large number starts at a million or
106 . Some spesific large numbers have their own names, for
example

106

or a million,

109

or a billion,

so on. These named large numbers based on

multiply of 3 and

1012

or a trillion, and

10

to power of a

6 . It goes up to a quadrillion ( 1015 ), a

18
21
quintillion ( 10 ), a sextillion ( 10 ), etc. The numbers names

ending with illion are all derived by adding prefixes (bi-, tri-, quad-,
303
etc., derived from Latin) to the stem illion. Centillion ( 10
) is the

highest name ending in -"illion. Zillion used informally to mean large

but inspesific large number (Wikipedia, 2016).
A number one with a hundred zeros after it has its own name.
100

The number is called gogool ( 10

Kanser

and

Newmans

1940

). The word gogool, according to

book,

Mathematics

and

The

Imagination, was invented by Kansers nine-years-old nephew to

designate the large number 1 followed by 100 zeros (Dubisch, 1952). I
have some spare time (and energy) to type a gogool in number form,
so it looks like this:
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
,000,000
Then, he also gave a name for a still larger number: gogoolplex.
Gogoolplex is larger than a gogool, but still finite. A gogoolplex is
10
basically a number 1 with a gogool zeros after it ( 10

100

). It was first

suggested that a gogoolplex should be 1, followed by writing zeros

until you got tired (note that this concept was suggested by a 9-yearsold boy) (Dubisch, 1952). I am not going to write googolplex in

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Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

number form because there is not enough matter in this universe to

write googolplex down.
Large numbers are large, but still finite. We could eventually get
there (even the process is really long). Now try to imagine a number
larger than googolplex. How about googolplex to the power of
googolplex ( 10

10

100

10

100

10

? Well, it is extremely large, but it is not even a

half way to infinity.

Another question pops out, how large is infinity? Is it really big?
Remember that even an enormous number is not even close to it.
B. Infinity
Let us start this chapter with more questions. What actually is
infinity? Is infinity a number? Or is it just an expression of something
enormous? Who is the first man to come up with an idea of infinity?
First of all, infinity is not huge. It is not tremendously large. It is
not even extremely humongous enormous (L.B. Gates, 2016). Then
how big is infinity? Is it as big as universe? Or maybe infinity is even
bigger than it?
Infinity (symbol: ) is an abstract concept describing something
without any bound or larger than any number (Wikipedia, 2016).
Infinite, according to Oxford dictionary, is limitless or endless in
space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate. As written
in a mathematical web page, MathsIsFun, infinity is an idea of
something that has no end, or endless. So that is it. Infinity is
endless.
As mentioned in the introduction, infinity is not a number, not a
real number. So, it cannot be measured. Any measurement will not be
long enough to measure it. Even the entire universe cannot compete
infinity. There was no evidence that infinite collections of physical
objects existed (Burton, 2011).
1. The Early History of Infinity
At first, there is no actual record of earlier civilizations
regarding, conceptualizing, or discussing infinity, but we will take
a look the beginning of infinity from the ancient Greeks. There is a
word, apeiron, which is meant unbounded, infinite, indefinite, or

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2016

Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

undefined (Allen, 1999). To the Greeks, the concept of infinity was

forced upon them from the physical world by three traditional
observations:
- Time seems without end.
- Space and time can be unendingly subdivided.
- Space is without bound.
This concept is quiet acceptable to humans brain in that era, but
they have no further explanation mathematically.
2. Zenos Paradox
Talking about

infinity

will

not

be

completed

without

mentioning the popular paradox by Zeno of Elea (c. 450 BC), the
tortoise and Achilles (Achilles was the great Greek hero of
Homers The Iliad). In the paradox of the tortoise and Achilles,
Achilles is in a footrace with the tortoise. Achilles allows the
tortoise a head start of 100 meters, for example. If we suppose
that each of them starts running at some constant speed (one
very fast and one very slow), then after some finite time, Achilles
will have run 100 meters, bringing him to the tortoise's starting
point. During this time, the tortoise has run a much shorter
distance, say, 10 meters. It will then take Achilles some further
time to run that distance, by which time the tortoise will have
advanced farther; and then more time still to reach this third
point, while the tortoise moves ahead. Thus, whenever Achilles
reaches somewhere the tortoise has been, he still has farther to
go. Therefore, because there are an infinite number of points
Achilles must reach where the tortoise has already been, he can
never overtake the tortoise (Wikipedia, 2016).
Zenos Paradox may be rephrased as follows. Suppose I wish
to cross the room. First, of course, I must cover half the distance.
Then, I must cover half the remaining distance. Then, I must cover
half the remaining distance. Then I must cover half the remaining
distanceand so on forever. The consequence is that I can never
get to the other side of the room.
This makes us think: is that true? Achilles should win the
race and we should be able to cross the room, right? Now the
resolution to Zenos Paradox is easy. Obviously, it will take me
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Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

some fixed time to cross half the distance to the other side of the
room, say 2 seconds. How long will it take to cross half the
remaining distance? Half as longonly 1 second. Covering half of
the remaining distance (an eighth of the total) will take only half a
second. And so on. And once I have covered all the infinitely many
sub-distances and added up all the time it took to traverse them?
Only 4 seconds, and here I am, on the other side of the room after
all. And poor old Achilles would have won his race.
3. Cardinality of Infinite Sets
A European mathematician, Georg Cantor (1845-1918),
define infinite set (using the notion of one-to-one correspondence)
as: a set that can be put into a one-to-one correspondence with a
proper subset of itself. For example:
1

1
4
9
16
25
36

We can make a one-to-one correspondence of set of natural

numbers and set of square numbers. It is leading to a conclusion
that both set has the same cardinality; even some of us may say
that set of square numbers is bigger than natural numbers. Well, it
is clear that natural numbers is infinite because we can make a
one-to-one correspondence with its subset; set of square numbers.
This does not work only for natural numbers. Now take a
look at this example:
1

1
1

1
2

1
3

1
4

1
5

1
6

Interesting, isnt it? Apparently, we can also make a one-toone correspondence of set of natural numbers and rational
numbers. Yes, both of them have the same cardinality too.

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2016

Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

We know the cardinality of some finite sets like: set of

factors of 12, set of natural numbers below 7, set of dates in a
month, etc. How about the cardinality of infinite sets?
The cardinality of natural numbers is aleph-null. Aleph
numbers are a sequence numbers used to represent the
cardinality of infinite sets. Aleph ( ) is the first letter in Hebrew
alphabet (Wikipedia, 2016).

Set of natural numbers is the first

infinite sets, also set of even numbers, set of square numbers, set
of rational numbers, etc.
[Go watch How to Count Past Infinity by Michael Stevens
(https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrU9YDoXE88) for a simple,
amazing, and clear explanation about infinity and infinite sets]
C. Teachers and Students Understanding about Infinity
We all know the concept of infinity is complicated and hard to
understand by the teachers and students themselves. In their journal,
Kattou Maria and her friends show if they did a research to know
teachers perception about infinity as a process or an object. The
research had been done to 43 elementary school teachers in Cyprus.
The data were collected through a self-report questionnaire which
took 20 minutes to complete. The questionnaire was comprised of
four tasks that aimed to identify perceptions related to the concept of
infinity.
The majority of teachers comprehend infinity as an unlimited
process. They mainly conceive infinity as a mathematical idea with
limited applications to daily life. The fact that teachers quoted
examples from various fields of mathematics such as geometry,
trigonometry, sets, etc indicates that the concept of infinity is
presented

throughout

the

mathematics

curriculum

in

Cyprus.

Although, some empirical examples were provided, these included

large finite numbers. Due to humans disability in counting the grains
1010
of sand or computing the number 10
, the person correlates them

with the concept of infinity (Kattou, 2009).

Markku S. Hannula and her friends also did a research to know
the level of students understanding on infinity. The objects of this

Yogyakarta State University

2016

Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

research were 40 students in Finland in grade 5 and 8 during the

academic years 2001-2003. They gave out 19 mathematical tasks, 3
of them were about infinity. They also did an interview to the
students.
In the fifth grade most students have no clue of infinity, and the
situation is not much better in the seventh grade. Yet, there is an
obvious development from grade 5 to 7 in students level of
answering these questions. Infinity is, indeed, a difficult concept and
students have difficulties with it, even in high school and at the
university level. In their opinion, the result was not satisfactory.
Majority of students seemed to think purely on the level of finite
process.
The basic idea of potential infinity is not too difficult to introduce
to students. Usually children are very interested about these
questions. In school, we should teach mathematics and not only to
master routine tasks of the textbook. This means that the main
mathematical ideas should be discussed in the class too. Infinity is
one of the main mathematical fundamental ideas that need to be
introduced to children early on. Students need experiences that allow
them to develop rich images of the topic, which will function as the
basis for formalization at a later age (Hannula, 2006).

REFERENCES
Allen,

G.

Donald.

No

year.

The

History

of

Infinity,

(http://www.math.tamu.edu/~dallen/ history/infinity.pdf, accessed on

19 April 2016).
Bagni, Giorgio T. 2005. Infinite Series: from History to Mathematics
Education in CMIT International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and
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Large Numbers and

Infinity

Learning,

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

(http://www.cimt.

plymouth.ac.uk/journal/bagni.pdf,

accessed on 19 April 2016).

Burton, David M. 2011. The History of Mathematics: An Introduction. New
York: McGraw-Hill Company.
Dubisch, Roy. 1952. The Nature of Number. New York: The Ronald Press
Company.
Dunham, William. 1991. Journey through Genius. London: Penguin Books.
Gates, Les Bill. 2016. What is Infinity?, an article in Math Is Fun; an
enjoyable

and

easy-to-learn

mathematics

web

site,

(https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/infinity. html, accessed on 3

June 2016).
Gohar, Dina. 2007. Cantors Quest to Understand the Infinite, an article in
The World of Trotter Math; a mathematics web site for teachers
sources, (http://www.trotter math.net/personal/infinity.html, accessed
on 3 June 2016).
Markku S. Hannula, Erkki Pehkonen, Hanna Maijala, Riitta Soro. 2006.
Levels of Students Understanding on Infinity in Teaching Mathematics
and

Computer

Science

Journal

University

of

Debrecen,

(http://tmcs.math.klte.hu/Contents/2006-Vol-IV-Issue-II/
10.5485_TMCS.2006.0129.pdf, accessed on 22 April 2016).
Maria Kattou, Michael Thanasia, K. Katerina, C. Constantinos, Philippou
George. 2009. Teachers Perception about Infinity: a Process or an
Object? in Journal of Department of Education University of Cyprus,
(http://ife.enslyon.fr/publications/

edition-electronique/cerme6/wg10-

09-kattou.pdf, accessed on 22 April 2016).

Platonic Realms (Interactive Mathematics Encyclopedia). No year. Zenos
Paradox

of

the

Tortoise

and

Achilles,

(http://platonicrealms.com/encyclopedia/zenos-paradox-of-thetortoise-and-achilles, accessed on 12 June 2016).

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Large Numbers and

Infinity

Addin Delia Nur Azfi

Muhajir

Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia). Last modified in 2016. Aleph number,

(https://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleph_number, accessed on 19 April
2016).
Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia). Last modified in 2016. Infinity,
(https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Infinity, accessed on 19 April 2016).
Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia). Last modified in 2016. Names of large
numbers,

(https

://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers,

accessed on 19 April 2016).

Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia). Last modified in 2016.
paradoxes,

(https://en.

Zenos

wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes,

accessed on 12 June 2016).

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2016