It has always seemed to me that the answer to any number divided by zero was not zero, but infinity. It drove me crazy in math classes, because I hated writing down zero, when I was pretty sure that infinity made more sense.
Am I wrong on this? I'm no mathematician I know...
2007-01-21 06:38:36 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Why can't infinity be a number? Either the largest number, the smallest, or some sort of uber-number?
Can you explain more about "Undetermined" What it mathematically means and how one arrives at that answer?
2007-01-21 06:48:55 · update #1
If the candy bar model holds, than why isn't anything divided by zero, not zero, but the number itself since its not reduced or broken into pieces?
2007-01-21 06:50:27 · update #2
When you get to calculus, you will use something called limits. You will then find the number a certain equation is approaching. In this case, a number divided by zero is approaching infinity, because the smaller the number you divide by, the greater your answer will be. Until you get into higher math. you might just have to accept that it's indeterminate. However, you're on the right track and a number divided by zero is definately not 0.
2007-01-21 07:25:34 · answer #1 · answered by sparrowhawk13147 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
infinity is not a number, because you start the definition with 1,2,3,4,5 ... , and infinite is none of them
there is no "bigger" number, because if you pick one, then you can have another bigger by adding 1
"infinite" has more than one meaning in mathematics, most answers here refer to the meaning in analysis at a basic level where it's just a word to refer to something, and not something in itself.
there is no number of times you can multiply 0 with to get to 1, for example 0 * 1000000000 is still 0. if you ask how many times you can put 0 in the interval [0,1] of real numbers, the answer is the same as there are numbers in that interval, but it's another meaning of "infinite"
in analysis, it's said that "0/0" is indeterminate because you can arrive to different values depending on what are the first and 2nd 0's in "0/0"
2007-01-21 08:11:41 · answer #2 · answered by roberto m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
any number over zero is neither zero nor infinity...it is undefined
think of it this way-lets go back to everyone's first fraction model. you have one candy bar. 1/1. you break it in half and give on piece to a friend, you have 1/2, etc. but how do you break it into ZERO pieces? you don't! that's why any number over zero is undefined!
edit-(based on your edit)
when you start out with the candy bar, it already is in one piece, not zero.
2007-01-21 06:45:45 · answer #3 · answered by Spearfish 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The division by zero is not allowed. YOU CAN NOT DIVIDE BY ZERO AND INFINITE IS NOT A NUMBER
2007-01-21 06:43:23 · answer #4 · answered by santmann2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
who told you that any number divided by 0 is 0...nope...it IS UNDETERMINED
2007-01-21 06:43:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
x/0 really is 'indeterminant'...we just choose to label it 'infinity'.
2007-01-21 06:42:21 · answer #6 · answered by mjatthebeeb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋