division by zero

hey /sci/entologists

why can't I divide by zero?

This is too philosophical.

Just do some algebra with it and see the crazy contradictions you run into.

Suppose you can. Then the question becomes, what's say, 2/0? You don't know how you to divide by 0, just that you can and that you should find an answer. Obviously, just how 2/50 is more than 2/100, 2/1 is more than 2/2 and 2/0 is more than 2/1. Or 2/.5. Or 2/0.00000001. Now 2/0.0000001 is already a pretty big number, and you can put a lot of 0 before that 1, and the result will still be less than 2/0, so 2/0 has gotta be a pretty huge fucking number. Hell, since you can't come up with anything smaller than 0 (negatives don't count since 2/-78 is really just gonna give you -1 times 2/78, which will be less than -1 times 2/0). So, whatever 2/0 is, it's gotta be the biggest number out there, and since the damned kikes go on forever anyway, the most meaningful answer to 2/0 you can give is "infinity", which is what calculus says 2/0 is in the first place. (well, "goes to infinity", to be precise)

Oh, and, you should have noticed a problem right there: If we start with 2/1 and keep replacing the 1 with numbers that are closer to 0, we end up anticipating that 2/0 is huge. If you start with 2/(-1) and replace the -1 with bigger things, like -0.5 or -0.1, you end up anticipating that 2/0 is crazy small (as in, - something huge). It can't be two things at once, can it? Normal, decent, honest to god numbers aren't like that at least, you get the same result for 2/5 no matter where you approach it from.

But really, the question is why the hell would you want to? I mean, are you wondering how much of that porn you will download in 0 seconds? Do you need to burn a 700 MB movie on CDs that can hold no data? Do you need to divide 60$ between the friends you don't have? If you ever end up *having* to divide by 0 while looking for something else, you're doing it wrong (like F/m=a'ing a photon or something). If you're just wondering what 2/0 is for the sake of being a pain in the ass, congrats, you're not.

>>(like F/m=a'ing a photon or something)

I fucking lol'd. Bravo sir.

You can divide by zero in Algebra, it just means no slope

Long story short: In principle, you can define 1/0 to be whatever you want, but there's no way to define it to make it compatible with regular division in every situation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_by_zero
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponentiation#Zero_to_the_zero_power

>>6
Geometrically, x/0 is infinite slope.

>>6,8
Racists.

>>9
Or Algebraists?

it means vertical slop

>>11
You mean like a stream of shit?

>>4
Do you need to divide 60$ between the friends you don't have?
Haha, good one.

>>7
Obligatory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_theory

You're all phail. There's no such a thing as division.

\frac{2}{0} means that there exists a q such that 2 = (q)0, which is a contradiction, as zero times any element is zero.

4tran, you let me down on this one.

>>14
Wheels have a different algebraic structure.  In particular, 0x =/= 0 in general.  The real numbers are not a wheel, but they can be made into one.

When you divide by zero you get a black hole, just like the one you're living in right now...welcome to planet hell; there is no escape.

>>13
jesus christ, that looks like the stupidest shit i've ever seen.