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Mathematical

Ross-Littlewood Paradox

Adding and removing from an infinite set yields unclear results

Overview

A paradox about infinite processes involving adding and removing elements from a set.

At step n, add balls numbered 10n-9 to 10n, then remove ball n. After infinitely many steps, how many balls remain? Argument 1: You add 10 and remove 1 each time, so infinitely many remain. Argument 2: Every numbered ball is eventually removed, so zero remain.

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