Poll: Can YOU divide by zero?

[The Stonker]

You can't divide by zero since zero equals nothing.
If I remeber right then this can be proves with for instance 6x0=0 while 6/0=0 since 0 never existed and for it to be 6 it has to be divided by one.
But there is one situation where this is taken out.... don't remeber which.

 

[guardian001]

Anybody who's taken Calculus can divide by zero under the right circumstances. You cheat by saying "it's not really 0" right up until you're done dividing, they you say "k, now it's 0."

 

[Rabarberskurk]

( )

Done.

 

[Continuity]

Well my calculator gives the solution of x/0 as x/0, which isn't that helpful but then it is set to give symbolic answers. When I ask it to give a nonsymbolic answer it returns the infinity symbol.
My calculator was programmed by people much smarter and much better at math than me, so I presume they know what they're on about.

 

[crazy-j]

in soviet Russia i can :3

 

[Darknacht]

Yes.
Most programming languages use the IEEE convention for floating point numbers so you can divide any non-zero floating point number by 0 and get Infinity( 0 divided by 0 is NaN, Not a Number). To test this you can use ghci and just type in ?2.0/0?.

 

[Continuity]

Yes.
Most programming languages use the IEEE convention for floating point numbers so you can divide any non-zero floating point number by 0 and get Infinity( 0 divided by 0 is NaN, Not a Number). To test this you can use ghci and just type in ?2.0/0?.

Yeah, if I put 2.0/0 into my calculator it gives the answer as "infinity", literally the word infinity.

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

i reckon one day we will...and either nothing will happen and disappoint everyone...or you know, branston pickle on no more heroes type of thing

 

[v3n0mat3]

i sure can. (See what I did there?)

 

[Cobalt Lion]

i sure can. (See what I did there?)

I see what you have done there sir.

As for dividing zero, I can. You take 0 and gt ( and )

And yes, that was pretty lame, even for myself.

 

[Blemontea]

well... yes i have divided by zero, my calculator just yells at me when i do.

 

[LightningBanks]

It equals the universe. Which is 42

 

[The Night Shade]

Sure! here i go....... o shit the floor daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

 

[Jumpingbean3]

I've been told that if you divide by zero you get infinity (something to do with the idea that once zero becomes a decimal the number of zeros within a zero goes on for ever or something like that) so I guess that's a yes for me.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

Yes, you get infinity because once zero becomes a decimal the number of zeros after the decimal point goes on forever (or so I'm told).

By the way good job beating me to this topic. Next thing I know someone will beat me to the subject of how poorly executed the Wild Wasteland perk in Fallout: New Vegas was.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post. The comment system can be a real pain sometimes.

 

[MikailCaboose]

What, is that not supposed to happen?! Huh...

 

[Melon Hunter]

As a maths book I read once said: "Try and divide seven by zero, and what do you get? A headache."

Seriously though, the only thing I've come across is L'Hopital's Rule, which deals with functions that end up dividing by zero when x=0, for example cot(x), by working the equation as x approaches zero, but not actually using x=0. It basically works by using Taylor Series and treating the function as f(x)/g(x); in this case, cot(x)=cos(x)/sin(x). As x approaches 0, cot(x)=f'(x)/g'(x), which is -sin(x)/cos(x). At x=0, f'(x)/g'(x)=0, although as stated, this isn't truly dividing by zero, just getting very, very close to it.

 

[Sprinal]

You can all you need to do is cancel out the zero

Like Newton tought me in diferentiation by first principles

 

[Marsell]

hmm, let me try it. ?!?
a blue oval hole?