A mathematician walks in to Euclid's Machining, Inc., and speaks to the head machinist. "Sir," he says, "I'm working on a project, and I need a cylinder and a donut, CNC machined out of stock aluminum. The donut must have an inside diameter of 1.000 inches, and the cylinder must have a diameter of .999 inches."
"No problem," says the machinist, "but it'll cost you a fair bit for precision to thousandths of an inch." The mathematician agrees to the cost, and decides to return the following week for the completed pieces.
When he gets returns, he tries desperately to fit the two pieces together, and furiously approaches the machinist. "I want my money back! These parts aren't within tolerances!"
"Hey," shrugs the machinist, "you're the one that thinks .9999 is the same as 1 inch."
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A mathematician walks in to Euclid's Machining, Inc., and speaks to the head machinist. "Sir," he says, "I'm working on a project, and I need a cylinder and a donut, CNC machined out of stock aluminum. The donut must have an inside diameter of 1.000 inches, and the cylinder must have a diameter of .999 inches."
"No problem," says the machinist, "but it'll cost you a fair bit for precision to thousandths of an inch." The mathematician agrees to the cost, and decides to return the following week for the completed pieces.
When he gets returns, he tries desperately to fit the two pieces together, and furiously approaches the machinist. "I want my money back! These parts aren't within tolerances!"
"Hey," shrugs the machinist, "you're the one that thinks .9999 is the same as 1 inch."