# Possible Solution To Zeno's Paradox? Breakthrough or Rubbish?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-solution-to-zenos-paradox-breakthrough-or-rubbish/193817>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 8, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-solution-to-zenos-paradox-breakthrough-or-rubbish/193817 "2003-08-08T12:44:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-solution-to-zenos-paradox-breakthrough-or-rubbish/193817/21 "2003-08-10T04:53:18Z")

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Anyone who’s had two days of calculus class should be able to “solve” Zeno’s paradox, and tell you the precise moment at which the tortoise will be overtaken.

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**Author:** ![TVAA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TVAA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVAA)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-solution-to-zenos-paradox-breakthrough-or-rubbish/193817/22 "2003-08-10T05:28:55Z")

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Bingo.

Zeno’s problem was that he realized that he could subdivide the sequence of steps leading up to that overtaking infinitely without understanding that he could split up the _duration_ over which those steps occurred infinitely as well.

You don’t even need calculus: basic mechanics will suffice. Any high-school physics student who’s been in class for more than a week could figure out the moment of overtaking.

It would take basic calculus to show why the paradox is flawed, though.

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-solution-to-zenos-paradox-breakthrough-or-rubbish/193817/23 "2003-08-11T14:36:21Z")

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Mathematical space and time are infinitely subdivisible, except for when we say they aren’t.

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