beebarfbadger@lemmy.world to Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 year agoIs zero divisible by zero?message-squaremessage-square15fedilinkarrow-up161arrow-down114file-text
arrow-up147arrow-down1message-squareIs zero divisible by zero?beebarfbadger@lemmy.world to Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 year agomessage-square15fedilinkfile-text
minus-squaremyplacedk@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up4·1 year agoYou can think of it like this: If a / b = c, then c • b = a So if 0 / 0 = 1, then 1 • 0 = 0 Which is true. It feels right at first. But what about other numbers? If 0 / 0 = 7, then 7 • 0 = 0 That also works. But if every number works, then which one is the correct one? The question boils down to: Find x, where x • 0 = 0 Now it might be more clear that the question doesn’t really make sense, so no answer will make sense.
minus-squareContentConsumer9999@kbin.sociallinkfedilinkarrow-up1·1 year agoWe can still solve the equation by making a set of all possible solutions which conveniently is a set of all real numbers.
You can think of it like this:
If a / b = c, then c • b = a
So if 0 / 0 = 1, then 1 • 0 = 0
Which is true. It feels right at first.
But what about other numbers?
If 0 / 0 = 7, then 7 • 0 = 0
That also works. But if every number works, then which one is the correct one?
The question boils down to:
Find x, where x • 0 = 0
Now it might be more clear that the question doesn’t really make sense, so no answer will make sense.
We can still solve the equation by making a set of all possible solutions which conveniently is a set of all real numbers.