{"id":13699,"date":"2018-10-22t20:20:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-23t03:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=13699"},"modified":"2018-10-22t20:28:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23t03:28:24","slug":"interval-notation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/interval-notation\/","title":{"rendered":"interval notation"},"content":{"rendered":"
in mathematics we mostly want to be as efficient and precise as possible when describing certain principles, and one such example is interval notation. an interval<\/strong> of real numbers between a<\/em> and b<\/em> with a < b<\/i> is a set<\/a> containing all the real numbers from a specified starting point a<\/em> to a specified ending point b<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n there are a few different types of intervals that commonly arise when studying math, called the open interval<\/strong> and the closed interval<\/strong>, notated respectively as (a, b)<\/em> and [a, b]<\/em>.<\/p>\n the open interval uses parentheses, and they signify the fact that the interval contains all the real numbers x<\/em> that are strictly between<\/em> the numbers a<\/em> and b<\/em>, i.e. the interval does not actually contain the numbers a<\/em> and b.<\/em> another way of notating an open interval is the set of all x<\/em> such that a < x < b.<\/em> <\/p>\n in the case of the closed interval, the square brackets are used to indicate that the endpoints are contained in the interval. therefore we can notate a closed interval as the set of x<\/em> so that <\/p>\n there are slightly fancier intervals, called half-open<\/b> intervals, notated as (a, b]<\/em> and [a, b)<\/em>, which are the respective sets of all x<\/em> so that , and .<\/p>\n an interval is called bounded<\/strong> when there is a real positive number m<\/em> with the property that for any point x<\/em> inside of the interval, we have that |x| < m<\/em>.<\/p>\n supposing as in the setup that a < b<\/em>, then how many numbers are actually in the interval (a, b)<\/em>? it turns out that there are uncountably infinite numbers in any interval (a, b)<\/em> where a < b<\/em>, no matter how close a<\/em> and b<\/em> are together.<\/p>\n it is a fact that actually, there are the same quantity of real numbers in the interval (0, 1)<\/em> as there are in the entire real numbers, also represented by the interval . this seems counterintuitive, because one interval seems so much more vast than the other, but it is not a contradiction, but rather a beautiful subtly of set theory.<\/p>\n intervals arise regularly in calculus, and it will be important for you to know the difference between a closed interval and an open interval, since there are some theorems, like the intermediate value theorem, which requires that the interval upon which the function is defined is a closed and bounded interval.<\/p>\n closed and bounded intervals touch on one of the most important concepts in the broader study of calculus, that of compactness<\/a>. many central theories in calculus revolve around compact sets, which in the setting of the real numbers are exactly the closed bounded intervals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" what is interval notation? this post will cover interval notations for open, closed, and half-open intervals so you’re familiar with them for ap test day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[241],"ppma_author":[24929],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\ninterval notation: the types of intervals<\/h2>\n
interval notation for open intervals<\/h3>\n
interval notation for closed intervals<\/h3>\n
interval notation for half-open intervals<\/h3>\n
observations on intervals<\/h2>\n
calculus and intervals<\/h2>\n