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Old 22-05-2008, 04:42 PM
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skwinty (Steve)
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Cape Town
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The point of infinity is very specific. Not a hairs breadth on either side.
Use your calculator and calculate the tangent of 89.9999999999999999999999 degrees and 90.99999999999999999999999 degrees and you will get a very large number. Not infinite but very large.
Infinity only occurs at exactly 90 degrees.

Now the density of the singularity approaches infinity rapidly but never really gets there, its like the frog in the middle of the pond who jumps half the remaining distance, he never gets out the water.

The issue I have is that the mathematicians like to get rid of infinities in their equations via renormalisation. This then makes the infinity dissappear.
However, the confusion I have is that some theories/equations are unrenormalisable. So, in some cases you cant get rid of the infinity in the equations.
General Relativity is one of these.
But still the mathematicians apply renormalisation to these and I would like to know why?

Now, it is beyond reason to expect infinite mass density in zero volume, but for all intensive purposes it gets pretty darn close. Current calculations show that the density of a neutron star would yield 100 million tons per cm3.
Infinity being N+1 we could hypothetically carry on forever
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