For all the Math Nerds out there - Divide by zero

[morten]

This is one of the many problems my math teacher in high school was never able to explain that I was never able to leave alone: Why can't you divide something by zero? From a philosophical standpoint you should be able to divide something by nothing but conventional math has never allowed this. That is until now.

A British mathematician has come up with something that could be a sollution to the problem: a new instance called "nullity".

Interesting article here with a video demonstration here.

I find this incredibly interesting. I'm sure noone else does but still!

mor10

 

[Larry Rutledge]

Division by zero is an operation for which you cannot find an answer, so it is disallowed. You can understand why if you think about how division and multiplication are related.

12 divided by 6 is 2 because
6 times 2 is 12

12 divided by 0 is x would mean that
0 times x = 12

But no value would work for x because 0 times any number is 0. So division by zero doesn't work.

 

[David Jimerson]

If you're dividing something by 5, you're making 5 equal pieces out of it.

How do you make 0 equal pieces out of something?

 

[Alex DePew]

If you're dividing something by 5, you're making 5 equal pieces out of it.

How do you make 0 equal pieces out of something?

I'm not sure, but I did get paid in 0 equal installments of nothing for my last shoot.

 

[Shaw]

Seems more than a bit suspect to me...

For one, he's a computer scientist not a mathematician and two, the theorem seems to be merely semantic play...

 

[J Michael]

It might make more sense to you if you think of what happens when you divide by a number that approaches zero. In calculus that is referred to as taking the limit as the number approaches the value.

 

[Mino]

I don't know about zero, but I could not and still have not been able to fathom the idea of nothing, To me there can not be a state of nothing! Take any object and cut it in half for eternity and you're going to get half of half of half......Forever however tiny it gets there has to be half.

 

[Jay Rodriguez]

If you're dividing something by 5, you're making 5 equal pieces out of it.

How do you make 0 equal pieces out of something?

u don't

 

[Blaine]

Where is Anhar Miah when you need him?

 

[TC]

Morten's icon looks exactly like I did while reading this thread.

 

[khmuse]

nulity?

This guy is kidding right?

That was no proof at all.

 

[Anhar_Miah]

When you divide by zero, mathematically it is nonsensical since you get a paradoxical infinity, in finite terms one can not deal with infinity since it is not a finite amount.

Another question could also be posed what happens if one divides zero by zero:

0/ 0= 1

Of course that is impossible, but merely an assumption, since zero in mathematical terms has no value.

One of the properties of infinity is that a subset of is class is equal to the entire class, i.e. any part of infinity is equal to the whole of infinity.

In the same manner if one is dividing something by zero, it would have to try and fulfil the one of the properties of infinity that is, one subset of the class has to be equal to the entire class.

In traditional Euclidean mathematics (3d Geometry) such as infinity can not exist since to represent a boundless function in terms of bounded expressions is impossible.

Interestingly however the theory of Atoms was first speculated by the Greek thinkers, they started by asking if one was able to divide a block in half, they then postulated if this process could be repeated, i.e. to make half of the remaining half. This was indeed possible, they then speculated that this process could not in theory go on forever, since at some point you would require to be not able to divide any further. This point was named the “atmos” Greek meaning the “The Indivisible”.

Many people have attempted to make mathematical interpretations of infinity (some varying degrees of success) such as Infinity in relation to complex numbers and set theory. And the not so successful super counting.

The real root of the problem lies in the fact that infinity is not a real physical parameter, in fact physically a real infinity can not actually exist (as explained by the Atom). However infinity is a “conceptual” entity, we can only describe a potential infinity in mathematics.

To think about infinity one can merely say “Without Beginning, Without end”

Anhar Hussain Miah