[Math] Is the Cantor set made of interval endpoints

cantor setelementary-set-theorygeneral-topologyreal-analysis

The Cantor set is closed, so its complement is open. So the complement can be written as a countable union of disjoint open intervals. Why can we not just enumerate all endpoints of the countably many intervals, and conclude the Cantor set is countable?

Best Answer

Because the Cantor set includes numbers which are not the endpoints of any intervals removed. For example, the number $\frac{1}{4}$ (0.02020202020... in ternary) belongs to the Cantor set, but is not an endpoint of any interval removed.