The Reason For The Proscription Against Division By Zero

Hermit · **#21** by **Hermit** » Oct 26, 2018 9:53 am

Evolving wrote:
Cito di Pense wrote:
For your next trick, I suggest complaining about how .9999... is not 1 in the set of real numbers.

oh god, not that again, please!

It's one of many perfect companion topics for people who don't think discussing whether it is possible to have a half-full/empty glass of whatever liquid is a waste of time. :mrgreen:

Evolving · **#22** by **Evolving** » Oct 26, 2018 9:56 am

It's been a while since anyone posted in this thread.

Alan B · **#23** by **Alan B** » Oct 26, 2018 10:07 am

When I was a young lad ('bout 30-ish), I was working as a technician at an electronics company, when one of the engineers came rushing down from the lab. proclaiming that the small computer he was designing (using '74 series chips) really works: "2x2=3.9999", he said...

Oh, yeah, we all thought.

scott1328 · **#24** by **scott1328** » Oct 26, 2018 5:59 pm

Simple answer: It's part of the social contract.

Blackadder · **#25** by **Blackadder** » Oct 26, 2018 6:40 pm

I thought it was because only God is able to divide by zero. The result, expressed in Low Aramaic, is tala inbis, which curiously, in the Ancient Mayan language means “tiresome prick”.

Thommo · **#26** by **Thommo** » Oct 27, 2018 2:56 am

The Reason For The Proscription Against Division By Zero

This IS a TEST; Do you know the ACTUAL reason division by zero is not permitted?

scherado wrote:I will add that my professor did not express the answer in the words I will, eventually.

Starting to suspect these promises won't be delivered upon. :think:

laklak · **#27** by **laklak** » Oct 27, 2018 3:25 am

Blackadder wrote:I thought it was because only God is able to divide by zero.

Yeah, we're not supposed to do it. It's like saying "Jehovah!". Pisses him off. You won't like him when he's pissed off.

OlivierK · **#28** by **OlivierK** » Oct 27, 2018 8:00 am

This is the first I've heard about division by zero being not allowed. Let's test this out.

2 / 0

Waiting for the sirens...

Nope, nothing. Seems it's allowed after all.

So Scherado, go for your life. Come back when you have an answer.

TopCat · **#29** by **TopCat** » Oct 27, 2018 9:01 am

Every Scherado post so far has been nearly all about how clever Scherado is (when he manifestly isn't), rather than anything that may or may not be interesting about his actual topics.

Quite apart from the way his posts are riddled with typos, which is merely irritating, it's just serial chain-yanking, which I find fairly dickish in character, and I have virtually zero inclination to engage with people that act like dicks on the internet.

Scherado, if you have anything interesting to say about division by zero, say it. Otherwise, not that my preference has any bearing on things, I'd prefer you to fuck off.

Cito di Pense · **#30** by **Cito di Pense** » Oct 27, 2018 2:06 pm

I divided myself by zero; the quotient is God, and the remainder is me.

laklak · **#31** by **laklak** » Oct 27, 2018 2:21 pm

Dude, that is some deepity shit right there.

scherado · **#32** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 4:39 pm

Spinozasgalt wrote:
scherado wrote:All-righty then. This thread will separate the "men from the boys," this expression having been created, I suppose, when women were second-class citizens; but that's water under the bridge and not the topic.

I'm Jennifer.

How would you like to save me from over here at about 41 degrees North Latitude?

I have many skills...

scherado · **#33** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 4:49 pm

Thommo wrote:
scherado wrote:
Thommo wrote:...The clause should read "Multiplication by zero does not have an inverse and cannot sensibly be given one".

I think you want to start your own thread: The Reason For The Proscription Against Multiplication By Zero. Good luck to you.

Err, no. That is a correct answer to the thread title.

There is no prescription against multiplication by zero.

That won't be much of a thread.

Your answer is not the answer of my OP. There may be a very large number of ways to express mathematically the proscription on division by zero.

Mine is the fundamental reason.

scherado · **#34** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 4:52 pm

The_Metatron wrote:Eddie Woo addresses this in nine minutes on the youtubes.

That's nice....we'll never know!!! You must provide the link.

I can express it in, at most short, FIVE words.

Cito di Pense · **#35** by **Cito di Pense** » Oct 27, 2018 4:53 pm

scherado wrote:
Mine is the fundamental reason.

Oooh! Fundamental! I'll see your fundamental and raise you an actual. You know, the really-o and truly-o.

I think you like these words like 'fundamental' and 'actual' because they lack referents.

scherado wrote:
I can express it in, at most short, FIVE words.

Be sure to use actual words instead of words that only blossom between your ears.

scherado · **#36** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 4:55 pm

Thommo wrote:Start from the field axioms:
[url=https:_____//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_(mathematics)#Classic_definition]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_(mathematics)#Classic_definition[/url]
[i]Classic definition ...

Nope, no lookie at WHOOOkeee-Pee-D-uh

newolder · **#37** by **newolder** » Oct 27, 2018 5:00 pm

scherado wrote:
The_Metatron wrote:Eddie Woo addresses this in nine minutes on the youtubes.

That's nice....we'll never know!!! You must provide the link.

I can express it in, at most short, FIVE words.

One url.

scherado · **#38** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 5:09 pm

Matt_B wrote:... Anyway, my serious answer would be that there's no such proscription if you look at advanced enough mathematics. For instance, 1/0 leads to a well defined point on the Riemann sphere, albeit under a different definition of division that you can't naively translate back to real algebra.

One thing I'm sure we can all agree upon is that the result of 1/0 could not be a real number. Thommo has outlined one reason why, but more intuitively you could just take the limit of 1/x as x tends to 0 from above and below, and you'll see it shooting off towards infinity in both directions. Infinities are not real numbers, therefore it's sensible to leave the result undefined in any areas of mathematics where we're looking for a real result.

Well, there you have it, in red above.

Matt_B has posted the correct, fundamental reason for the impossibility of division by zero.

My answer, in five words, is Infinity is not a value, which I will keep using.

The lengthy "demonstration" that I was presented in College is (paraphrased):

3
— = 3
1

3
—— = 300
.01

3
——— = 30,000
.0001

3
———— = 30,000,000
.0000001

3
—— = --> infinity; As the denominator approaches zero the quotient approaches infinity.
-->0

The value of the denominator, the shrinking decimal, can be decreased forever, without reaching zero, therefore the result, the quotient, will increase forever without reaching infinity.

This comports with the definition of infinity, no? Yes.

Infinity is not a value.

Zero is the lack of value.

---------------------

About your statement that there is no proscription in advanced Mathematics, this is true and I reached that and well beyond in my college Math: Treating infinity as a value has created a great deal of new Mathematics.

scherado · **#39** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 5:10 pm

newolder wrote:
scherado wrote:
The_Metatron wrote:Eddie Woo addresses this in nine minutes on the youtubes.

That's nice....we'll never know!!! You must provide the link.

I can express it in, at most short, FIVE words.

One url.

There is no url: the five words are mine.

scherado · **#40** by **scherado** » Oct 27, 2018 5:13 pm

scott1328 wrote:Simple answer: It's part of the social contract.

I'll have to think about the truth-value of that answer.

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