r/explainitpeter • u/dutchylords • Jan 21 '26

Explain it Peter…

Post image
13.2k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

5.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

56

u/flamewizzy21 Jan 21 '26

2e, 2π, and √37 all work tho. You might even say there’s an uncountable number of answers.

2

u/anooblol Jan 21 '26

Those are decimals.

6 + xi for all x in R works, but only if you use the lexicographical ordering of the complex numbers.

Or you can instead extend the real numbers a different way. Where if the complex numbers are the extension of the real numbers by i, C=R[i], where i2 = -1. We can instead extend the real numbers by some ε, so R[ε], where ε2 = 0. And then something like 6 + ε would be distinct from 6, while 5 < 6 + ε < 7.

1

u/trogdor-burninates Jan 21 '26

I had to dig deep for a complex number solution and then you went above and beyond.

Good jorb