Higher Roots of Positive Numbers

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The discussion centers on the mathematical property that the limit of the n-th root of any positive number approaches one as n approaches infinity, formally expressed as $$\lim_{n\to \infty} a^{1/n} = 1$$ for all positive a. Participants clarify that there is no concept of an "infinite root" and emphasize the importance of proving this property through sequences, specifically defining a sequence as ##a_n:=\sqrt[n]{x}##. The limit can be demonstrated using the continuity of the exponential function and logarithmic properties, as well as through elementary methods showing the distance to one decreases significantly with successive roots.

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Playing around with my calculator, I realized that if I do successive rooting operations on any positive non-zero number, I always get the number one.
Can I conclude that the infinite root of any positive number will always be zero?
If the statement is true, is there any synthesized formula to prove this property?

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$$\lim_{n\to \infty} a^{1/n} = 1$$ for all positive a. You can show this e.g. using ##a^{1/n} = e^{\log(a)/n}## and continuity of the exponential function to bring the limit into the exponent, but you can also show it for successive square roots in more elementary ways by showing that e.g. the distance to 1 decreases at least by a factor 2 each time.
 
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dom_quixote said:
Playing around with my calculator, I realized that if I do successive rooting operations on any positive non-zero number, I always get the number one.
Can I conclude that the infinite root of any positive number will always be zero?
No, you cannot conclude anything from trying out a couple of numbers. And there is no such thing like an infinite root. However, you can pose the hypothesis that
$$
\lim_{n \to \infty} \sqrt[n]{x} = 1 \text{ for }x>0
$$
dom_quixote said:
If the statement is true, is there any synthesized formula to prove this property?
You can define a sequence ##a_n:=\sqrt[n]{x}## and prove that ##|a_n-1|## get's arbitrary small for large ##n##.
 
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mfb said:
$$\lim_{n\to \infty} a^{1/n} = 1$$ for all positive a. You can show this e.g. using ##a^{1/n} = e^{\log(a)/n}## and continuity of the exponential function to bring the limit into the exponent, but you can also show it for successive square roots in more elementary ways by showing that e.g. the distance to 1 decreases at least by a factor 2 each time.
You can also do an indirect proof. For any ##a > 1##, the sequence ##a^{1/n}## is monotone decreasing and bounded below by ##1##. Therefore, the limit exists.

However, for any number ##l > 1##, the sequence ##l^n## in unbounded; and so ##l \ne lim_{n \to \infty} a^{1/n}##. That leaves the only possibility that ##lim_{n \to \infty} a^{1/n} = 1##.
 
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