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The Infinite Hotel Paradox - Jeff Dekofsky

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The Infinite Hotel, a thought experiment created by German mathematician David Hilbert, is a hotel with an infinite number of rooms. Easy to comprehend, right? Wrong. What if it’s completely booked but one person wants to check in? What about 40? Or an infinitely full bus of people? Jeff Dekofsky solves these heady lodging issues using Hilbert’s paradox.


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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Jeff Dekofsky
  • Director Nadav Arbel
  • Artist Yoni Boaz
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
Additional Resources for you to Explore
The concept of infinity has fascinated humans since ancient times.The first known reference comes from the 5th century B.C.E. Wikipedia presents many interesting facts and applications of the concepts of both potential infinity (as used in Calculus for example) and actual infinity (as used in Set Theory).
Dennis Wildfogel also created an original TED-Ed lesson on the concept of actual infinity. You can watch it here.
Another great place to watch videos on infinity and other number related concepts is Numberphile.
Here are a few of their specific videos dealing with infinity, prime numbers, etc.:
http://numberphile.com/videos/countable_infinity.html
http://numberphile.com/videos/infinity_paradoxes.html
http://numberphile.com/videos/infinite_primes.html
http://numberphile.com/videos/zeno_paradox.html
In addition to online resources, there are also some outstanding books dealing with the concept of infinity. Here is a very short list that I would highly recommend:
The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless by John Barrow
The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity by Amir D. Aczel
To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinite by Eli Maor
1 Guided Discussion
12 Open Discussions
TED-Ed
Lesson Creator
New York, NY
If we were to try to fill the Real Number Infinite Hotel, what are some of the issues that we wil...
Why do numbers like the square root of 2 or pi, as well as other irrational (infinite decimal) numbers make a system difficult to design? Think about the systems that the manager used to fill the Natural Number Infinite Hotel. Can we adjust any of these to do the job?
01/16/2014 • 
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About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Jeff Dekofsky
  • Director Nadav Arbel
  • Artist Yoni Boaz
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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