Theorem. All open intervals have the same cardinality as the set of real numbers .

Proof. Two sets have the same cardinality if there exists a bijection between them. Consider
the function

Because is a composition of injective functions, it is injective. Consider all . Since

There exists arbitrarily large , arbitrarily large and negative , and some such that

The function is continuous on ; therefore, by the intermediate value theorem,

we know that for all there exists a such that . Because and
are real and is subset of , we have and . We have
proven that

therefore, by definition is surjective. Because is both injective and surjective, it is a

bijection between and .

The generalization to closed intervals cannot be made with similar arguments, but the
solution turns out to be quite simple.

Theorem. All closed intervals have the same cardinality as the set of real numbers .

Proof. There exists an injection between and , an example being . Because

such an injection exists,

There exists an injection between and , an example being . Because such an

injection exists,
Combining inequalities yields

Since , it follows that .