Actually I didn't forget anything.  If you read the bottom paragraph, what I am actually saying is that you can use that equation as an example, and the same principle holds for every extra 9 you add on the back.  If 0.9 != 1 and 0.99 != 1, then 0.9999... != 1 either, it only gets really really close. 

So what I am saying is 0.999... != 1, but the LIMIT of 0.999..... is 1 as it approaches infinity, two completely different things.

As for that Dr Math site, his "proof"  showed a limit, not equality. 

edit: I'm not implying that the Dr Math guy is wrong, I'm just saying that the answer is more complicated than saying 0.999... = 1. 

Wow, I thought with something like this people would just stop arguing when there's a simple RIGHT or WRONG answer.  It's not a debate.  It's a matter of knowledge. 

Here's the wikipedia link, for those wanting proofs at every conceiveable mathematical sophistication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_that_0.999..._equals_1

I guess I also learned something: (from the wiki page) arguing about 0.999... is a popular sport.  Guess I got sucked into it! 

The wiki page just re-inforces what I meant at the very end of my last post. The answer is much more complicated than just saying 0.999... = 1, the key being the concept of limits

 Kind of true.

1)  0.999...  is a notation.  It, by definition, MEANS there's an infinite number of "9"s after the decimal point.

2)  Once you accept that, 0.999... = 1.  There is a gazillion proofs out there, the wiki page has a good collection of them.

On the concept of "infinity": it is by no means an intuitive concept.  The ancient Greeks for instance could not come to grips with it--Zeno's paradox, for instance.

As to 0.999... :  If you know "real analysis", or "analysis" for short, you'd know the history of it.  It took a few centuries and some very brilliant mathematicians to lay out the foundations!  It shouldn't be a surprise that without formal training people would be arguing over it over and over and over ...

P.S.  Amount of "formal training": for the typical math student, he/she gets some exposure to real analysis in high school calculus.  In college, typically there are 4 semesters of calculus (AP Calculus BC can place you out of the first 2 semesters typically, but it depends on the curriculum).  A solid Real analysis is typically a junior/senior level course (2 semesters), a core requisite for math majors.  However, most PhD level physical scientists and engineers are highly recommended to have a solid understanding of it.

.999...=1 I am a mathematician and this thread fails.

Dolla Dolla said: There. This is the sad reality!

This is basically an extension of the 1/3 argument.  It works for other repeating decimals, as well.

1/7 = 0.142857142857...
6/7 = 0.857142857142...
7/7 = 0.999999999999...

Don't forget, there could have been a 0 at the end of the infinite number of 0s before it. But no, there is a 1 at the end of the infinite amount of 0s before it. If 0.999... is the same as 1, then 0.999...8 is the same as 0.999..., then 0.999...7 is the same as 0.999...6... and eventually, 0.45312454...54 would be the same as 0.45454...53, which would also mean that 0.45312454...53 would be the same as 1. So basically, all numbers would be exactly the same. Therefore, the theory is flawed. It's hard to comprehend, but that 1 still exists in that number. Until we can fully understand the meaning if "infinite," this question will always remain unclear to some, but I believe the correct answer is, "No, it is not the same."

I wish all posts in the forum could have as much thought as the posts in these math question threads. This question has only opened more theories. If we take an infinite number, let's say, 39485734985.349857394858794058785... And the numbers kept going to infinite, yet all the numbers were mixed up (unlike 0.999... Where all the numbers before the decimal are "9"), at what point do the numbers not exist? The fact is, they all exist. Same with the 0.00...1. Does the 1 not exist because there is an infinite amount of 0s after it? No, it does exist. Our minds just cannot comprehend "infinite." 0.999... does not equal 1.