Unimaginable Numbers and Infinity Computing at School: An Experimentation in Northern Italy

In this paper we describe an experimentation carried out in a high school in northern Italy. The focus is to present to students new concepts of very big numbers and the infinite, studying their response, approaches, intuit and the suitability to apply in larger scale. In particular the new concepts and notations regard unimaginable numbers and the infinity computing. Several exercises have been suggested to students arousing much interest. Also a final test has been proposed and it is discussed in part in this paper. Among many observations and conclusions, we confirm a great ease of use of infinity computing by students and an almost immediate and intuitive degree of reception. Also unimaginable numbers, hyperoperations and Knuth’s powers proved highly educational value, but they are more difficult to master.