Timeline for Dividing by zero
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26, 2014 at 11:06 | comment | added | Rory Daulton | @Jared: I can "talk about a divide by zero without talking about limits" by sticking to the real number system (as I did in my answer) or by using the projective extended real number system or the affine extended real number system. See the addition to my answer. Thanks for your comments: they are thought provoking. | |
| Oct 26, 2014 at 11:05 | history | edited | Rory Daulton | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 1065 characters in body
|
| Oct 26, 2014 at 6:20 | comment | added | Jared | First, I don't disagree that $\frac{1}{0}$ is infinite, but it's not undefined--it's infinite. This argument is extremely naive because it's multiplying an infinity by zero which is not logically sound. As an example, I can do $\lim_{n\rightarrow 0}\frac{1}{n}\cdot n = 1$ You cannot talk about a divide by zero without talking about limits! | |
| Oct 26, 2014 at 4:33 | comment | added | Jared | I disagree with this logic (this is from a calculus/limit standpoint). If you are given that $\frac{1}{0} = n = \infty$, then you you have: $\frac{1}{0}\cdot 0 = \infty \cdot 0$--the right side is indeterminate, so you cannot unequivocally say that it's $0$...nor can you can logically conclude that $\frac{0}{0} = 1$ which it appears you did here. | |
| Oct 26, 2014 at 0:07 | history | answered | Rory Daulton | CC BY-SA 3.0 |