"N/0" Why can´t it be?

Question

Ok, I know it´s indeterminate, but why? Could you point out some mathematical proof? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

1/1=1, 1/.5=2, 1/.1=10, 1/.0001=10000
1/.000000001=1000000
1/0= tends to infinite

Answer 2

Actually, N / 0 means N * (1/0).

What is 1/0? It is the multiplicative inverse of zero. The multiplicative inverse of a number x, is the number 1/x such that
x * (1/x) = 1.

So, 1/0 is the number such that 0 * (1/0) = 1. Clearly, such a number does not exist because 0 * any real number = 0, not 1. Therefore N / 0 is indeterminate.

Answer 3

Consider this: N/0 = x. Multiply both sides by zero, now N = x * 0. Since any number times 0 is 0, x can be any number, thus it cannot be determined, hence indeterminate.

Also, if you take the limit of N/x as x approaches 0, for x >= 0, then the answer becomes infinity. Infinity, however, is indeterminate. It is not finite (hence infinite), and two times infinity is still infinity.

If, in a contest to pick the largest number, you pick infinity, and I pick infinity plus one, I have still chosen infinity since adding a finite number to an infinite number doesn't change the infinite number b/c finite << infinite. Therefore, what is infinity equal to? Infinity? Infinity plus one? Two times infinity? They're all still infinite, so we can't determine what infinity really equals, hence indeterminate, also.

Answer 4

If mathematicians who say that it's indeterminate are wrong, it will eventually lead them to a contradiction, and they will have to admit it. But it hasn't happened, yet.

If you say that it's determinate, then tell us what it is, and let's see if that leads you into a contradiction. I'd bet that it will.

There's no favouritism here, no seniority, no "daddy knows best", and not even a matter of what's the proof. It's the same rule for everybody - you are assumed to be correct as long as you can avoid a contradiction.

Answer 5

Think about it this way, say you have an apple, which by itself is divided in 1 piece, now trying dividing that apple into zero pieces.
It doesn't make any sense.

Another example is this:
If you divide 6 by 3 the answer is 2 because 2 times 3 IS 6. If you divide 6 by zero, then you are asking the question, "What number times zero gives 6?" The answer to that one, of course, is no number, for we know that zero times any real number is zero not 6. So we say that division by zero is undefined, for it is not consistent with division by other numbers.

Answer 6

There are full, rigorous mathematical explanations, but they're boring. Instead think of it in grade-school terms. If you picture a fraction, a/b, as a pie cut into "b" equal slices and you take "a" of them; then a pie cut into 0 slices doesn't make any sense. Hence undefined.

Answer 7

Actually because of the rules set up in math you cannot divide by "0".

Answer 8

for example
2/0= indeterminate
because if you put 0 as a result:
2/0=0
when you try to multiply 0*0, it doesn't give you 2 as the result, right?
so the result couldn't be determinated for sure.

hope it's helping.

Answer 9

suppose you have N houses
you distribute at the rate of 0 house per friend
to how many friends can you distribute
10,3668,9078563412,100000000999999888888
i hope you understand

Answer 10

http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.divideby0.html