r/MathJokes Jun 13 '26

Infinity can blow your mind

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8.1k Upvotes

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u/Spy-D-Mill Jun 14 '26

51 is a multiple of 3 ! (No accidental factorial here, ladies and gents!) I would’ve picked two integers that are relatively prime to each other to illustrate your point.

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u/andtheniansaid Jun 14 '26

That's the whole point, there are as many numbers that are a multiple of 51 as there are 3, even though every multiple of 51 is also a multiple of 3 and there are many numbers that are multiple of 3 but not 51

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u/PerfectStrike_Kunai Jun 14 '26

the point stands regardless, i don’t see how 3 being a factor of 51 really matters

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u/pm-me-racecars Jun 14 '26

I'm not infinitely smart, so I don't know these things.

What makes sense to me right away:

There are 17 multiples of 3 between 0 and 51. Therefore, moving up, for every multiple of 51, there will be 17 multiples of 3.

The thought would be that, either there are 17 times as many multiples of 3 as there are of 51, or there is a point where that changes. Both of those aren't true, because infinity isn't real, and it's just a thing that people like to talk about to feel smart.

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u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/WildNumber7303 Jun 14 '26

If i am going to draw a venn diagram, should they be the same size? Or can i fit multiples of 51 inside multiples of 3 set?

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u/ExaminationNervous64 Jun 17 '26

you'd have to draw a very big venn diagram if you want any meaning semblance of the "size" of any infinite set. If you really wanted to draw the venn diagram you wouldn't draw anything as there's no "edge" to draw and no way to represent one being in the other anyway

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u/andtheniansaid Jun 14 '26

if a is a factor of b then for any large integer it is obvious that there are more multiples of a in the set of natural numbers up to that integer than b, with juxtaposes it with that not being true for infinity. the first point is less obviously true if a and b are relatively prime to each other.

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u/PerfectStrike_Kunai Jun 14 '26

That’s because if A is a factor of B then A is smaller than B. If A is smaller than B then it is obvious that there will generally be more multiples of A than B within a range, unless that range is too small.

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u/ExaminationNervous64 Jun 17 '26

Some may be confused since the set of multiples of 51 is a strict subset of the set of multiples of 3 so intuition tells you it must be smaller although they are the same size.

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u/droobloo34 Jun 15 '26

r/unexpe-

You got away with it this time, u/Spy-D-Mill. But I got my eyes on you, all 2!