What is the name of the mathematical paradox which is arises from the following?
If we imagine a point on a two-dimensional coordinate system (line graph), which moves from the positive part of the graph to the negative (if I can say like that), we expect that at one moment this point will cross the coordinates axis (for example axis of ordinates).
When the point is approaching the aforementioned axis, the distance to it constantly reduces. The distance may be a 1 unit, then 0.1 unit, then 0.01, then 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001... It seems that the point will never cross the axis, because the distance between it and axis may reduce infinitely, thus it may be infinitely small.
However, anyone can take a pencil, draw coordinates and then draw a line from one part of the graph to the opposite, crossing the axis without any difficulty. Isn't it a mathematical paradox?
I am not a mathematician myself, so I beg your pardon if you find my explanation of a problem a bit awkward.
This is Zeno's paradox of motion. You can read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes