How Does The Opposite of Infinity - Numberphile Work?

Imagine you have a never-ending cookie jar, that’s infinity. But what if someone took all the cookies out? That’s like the opposite of infinity, and it's called negative infinity.

Let’s say every day, you add 10 cookies to your jar. No matter how many days pass, there are always more cookies, that’s infinity. But if instead, every day you took away 10 cookies, the jar would keep getting emptier and emptier, like it's going into a cookie-free zone.

Think of your cookie jar as a number line. When you go to the right, you're adding cookies, that’s positive numbers. But when you go all the way to the left, past zero, and keep taking away cookies forever? That’s like being in the cookie-free zone, or negative infinity.

It's not about magic, it's just a super long journey in one direction: either adding more and more, or taking away more and more. Imagine you have a never-ending cookie jar, that’s infinity. But what if someone took all the cookies out? That’s like the opposite of infinity, and it's called negative infinity.

Let’s say every day, you add 10 cookies to your jar. No matter how many days pass, there are always more cookies, that’s infinity. But if instead, every day you took away 10 cookies, the jar would keep getting emptier and emptier, like it's going into a cookie-free zone.

Think of your cookie jar as a number line. When you go to the right, you're adding cookies, that’s positive numbers. But when you go all the way to the left, past zero, and keep taking away cookies forever? That’s like being in the cookie-free zone, or negative infinity.

It's not about magic, it's just a super long journey in one direction: either adding more and more, or taking away more and more.