Say we have a distance and to get there you can only go half the distance to it. Will we ever get there? I have tried this with computer programs but they always round up so I have taken to solving the problem manually but it takes some time. I actually had a headache from trying to solve the equation!
x=0
y=1
{y=y/2
x=x+y}

Say we have a distance and to get there you can only go half the distance to it.

Eh?

I'm confused. Maybe make this initial statement of the problem a bit clearer?

Eh?

I'm confused. Maybe make this initial statement of the problem a bit clearer?

He wrote that a bit awkwardly but he's just talking abouth the old Zeno's Paradox - and trying to work it out with a computer program!! LOL!!:D

Say we have a distance and to get there you can only go half the distance to it. Will we ever get there? I have tried this with computer programs but they always round up so I have taken to solving the problem manually but it takes some time. I actually had a headache from trying to solve the equation!
x=0
y=1
{y=y/2
x=x+y}
Whether or not you can get there depends on how often you get to travel a half-distance. You will never be able to arrive if you have to wait a fixed amount of time to travel each half distance. For example, if you want to travel 1 m and you must wait 1 second before traveling the first 0.5m, then another second before traveling 0.25m, then another second before traveling 0.125m, etc., then it will take an infinite number of seconds to actually travel the complete 1m.

On the other hand, it is possible for you to arrive taking half-steps if the time between each step decreases. Going back to the above example, if it takes you 1 second to travel the first 0.5 m, then half a second to travel the next 0.25m, then a quarter second to travel the next 0.125m, you will travel the complete meter and arrive at your destination in 2 seconds. Interestingly, when you hit 2 seconds and travel the complete meter you will have taken an infinite number of half-steps. Contrary to many people’s intuition, it is possible to sum an infinite set of numbers (like the time needed to take an infinite number of half-steps) and get a non-infinite result.