Poll: Can YOU divide by zero?
- Thread starter Kasper Gundersen
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Dividing by zero is the answer to cloning, so of course I can!
Heck one of my clones is about to knock on your door to give you some free candy.
Heck one of my clones is about to knock on your door to give you some free candy.
-facepalms- ok it seems I need to explain this really slowly: basic algebra and mathematical analysis can't account for 1/0 as a real number however mathematical analysis shows you that any function f(x)= 1/x has a graph which goes to negative infinity on one side and plus infinity on the other at the point in which x=0. Advanced mathematics (stuff like analytical geometry) can show you that a number divided by 0 actually has a solution but that solution is incredibly complex and formed in such a way that it has (due to current knowledge limitations) an infinity number of forms but (and this is the important bit) x/0 HAS A SOLUTION, it just happens to be a whole family of solutions who's number is infinite.
This image should help you guys understand better the actual math going into it ( I had a teacher partially form up a singularity similar to that one though only on one plane, not on all 3)
This image should help you guys understand better the actual math going into it ( I had a teacher partially form up a singularity similar to that one though only on one plane, not on all 3)
Any value divided by infinity will either result in an undefined mathematical statement (any natural number divided by zero for example), or in an indeterminate form (zero divided by zero for example).
You cannot divide by zero directly, but you can examine what happens in any equation as we approach some extrema. Thus, while 1/0 does not yield anything besides undefined, if you instead examine 1 / x as x becomes arbitrarily close to zero, you find that the value trends towards infinity. In much the same way, if you take 1 / x as x becomes arbitrarily close to infinity, you find that the result approaches zero.
And, to clarify, 1/0 is not infinity. It is undefined. But 1 / some number that is very very very close to zero yields a very, very large number.
You cannot divide by zero directly, but you can examine what happens in any equation as we approach some extrema. Thus, while 1/0 does not yield anything besides undefined, if you instead examine 1 / x as x becomes arbitrarily close to zero, you find that the value trends towards infinity. In much the same way, if you take 1 / x as x becomes arbitrarily close to infinity, you find that the result approaches zero.
And, to clarify, 1/0 is not infinity. It is undefined. But 1 / some number that is very very very close to zero yields a very, very large number.
You guys are overthinking this.
10 divided by 0 is one. Why? Because there is one 0 in 10.
Maths be damned.
10 divided by 0 is one. Why? Because there is one 0 in 10.
Maths be damned.
True but again you're going by the old primary school axiom : Do not divide by infinity/0, which you then had developed upon by analyzing mathematical strings and/or equations which yielded some screwed up results to be honest because the very definition of infinity is wrong ( infinity itself isn't possible, it is there just to explain away pitfalls in knowledge, simply put: It's the God of math, we know it's there, hell we can even see it but we can't touch it or grasp it in its wild form, sure you can say a function has a certain set form even when it goes to +/- infinity such as cos or sin but to put it simply: infinity is there to show us the concrete wall of our current level of knowledge, as we advance it moves further away, someday it might even disappear).Eclectic Dreck said:
Your assertion does not make any real sense. We can already deal with math at extrema - that is precisely what Calculus is for. Any integration is simply the limit of a Riemann Sum and quite literally represents the sum of an infinite series. Derivation on the other hand requires us to divide by infinitesimal quantities. Are they perfect? Certainly not. There are still rather famous mathematical statements not differentiable or integrable.Silver1Wolf2 said:
But, even using these extrema in mathematical convention isn't what you seem to describe. When you use the term infinity, it is literally a thing so big that you cannot contain it. This isn't to be confused with something like the cardinality of the natural number set (the set of all whole numbers from one to infinity) as this value is merely transfinite. It is larger than you can count, but still not infinite in the truest sense. That is precisely why 1/0 is undefined: the result has no useful mathematical meaning and as such is not defined.
But, just because something is undefined or indeterminate, doesn't mean they are useless. Why, there are entire theorems based around exploiting the nature of such things (L'hopital's rule for example).
Is there more to learn in mathematics? Certainly. But do I think that one of those things is a non axiomatic definition of indeterminate forms and infinity? Nope. Even the physical laws of the universe seem to break when zero or infinity get involved.
The smaller the number you divide by the bigger the value, so I assume that dividing by zero would equal a really big number, or infinity.
lets say u have an orange:
1) if you want to give it to 2 persons you will have to divide that one orange by two; 1/2=0.5 thus half an orange for each.
2) if you want to keep it to yourself then divide it by one person meaning the whole thing for you; 1/1=1
3) trying to divide the orange by zero will be like trying to share it with nobody (and you cant eat it) in order to divide an orange for a non-existing amount of people the orange must cease to exist and since mass cannot be created or destroyed this is physically impossible to accomplish.
you can divide by a number infinitely close to zero and the result is infinite, however, dividing by an absolute zero is impossible.
1) if you want to give it to 2 persons you will have to divide that one orange by two; 1/2=0.5 thus half an orange for each.
2) if you want to keep it to yourself then divide it by one person meaning the whole thing for you; 1/1=1
3) trying to divide the orange by zero will be like trying to share it with nobody (and you cant eat it) in order to divide an orange for a non-existing amount of people the orange must cease to exist and since mass cannot be created or destroyed this is physically impossible to accomplish.
Cuppa Tetleys said:
you can divide by a number infinitely close to zero and the result is infinite, however, dividing by an absolute zero is impossible.
Yes you can divide by zero, but under one, and only one circumstance. If you attempt to divide any number by zero it doesn't work because of the definition of division itself. Division is the inverse of multiplication. Basically,10/5=2 but it could also be written as 10*(1/5)=2. To prove a division function, you simply need you algebraically rearrange the equation to multiply the solution by the divisor. So, if 10/5=2 then 2*5 must equal 10, in order for the previous equation to be true.
Now, zero is a special case. no number can be divided by 0, because the proof can't exist. 3/0=x therefore x*0=3. Except that anything multiplied by zero equals zero, so that equation doesn't hold. This is true for any number. Whether it be 3,5,19, 15, or 228.153241. Dividing by zero will yield a "does not exist (DNE)" output on higher end calculators or computers. Literally no number can be divided by zero except for one and that is zero itself.
In the case of 0/0, the equation can be arranged to prove it. For instance 0/0=3 and 3*0=0, so the answer could be 3. However, this works for any number. 0/0=5 and 5*0=0 so it could be 5 as well. It works for any number, even those on the complex plan, as 0/0=i so 0*i=0. (I think). So the only number that 0 can be divided by is 0 itself, and the answer is known as an indeterminate form as, someone on here ninja'd me to. Simply put 0/0=The domain of all numbers. It can be anything. This is the only case in which zero can be used as the divisor.
Now, zero is a special case. no number can be divided by 0, because the proof can't exist. 3/0=x therefore x*0=3. Except that anything multiplied by zero equals zero, so that equation doesn't hold. This is true for any number. Whether it be 3,5,19, 15, or 228.153241. Dividing by zero will yield a "does not exist (DNE)" output on higher end calculators or computers. Literally no number can be divided by zero except for one and that is zero itself.
In the case of 0/0, the equation can be arranged to prove it. For instance 0/0=3 and 3*0=0, so the answer could be 3. However, this works for any number. 0/0=5 and 5*0=0 so it could be 5 as well. It works for any number, even those on the complex plan, as 0/0=i so 0*i=0. (I think). So the only number that 0 can be divided by is 0 itself, and the answer is known as an indeterminate form as, someone on here ninja'd me to. Simply put 0/0=The domain of all numbers. It can be anything. This is the only case in which zero can be used as the divisor.
That is not strictly true.Eclectic Dreck said:
Within the context of the Riemann Sphere [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_sphere], and other such extended number systems, infinity is number and any non-zero number divided by zero is defined to be equal to that infinity.
Saying that 1/0 is outright undefined, just because it happens to be undefined within the real numbers, is no more accurate than saying 1/5 is outright undefined, just because it is undefined within the natural numbers.
You can't. Because Devision is the opposite of Multiplication, and multiplying anything by 0=0. Therefor, you cannot get a number when you divide by 0 because Zero will never give a correct answer.