Solve 1/0: What Number Times 0 Equals 1?

  • Thread starter Thread starter waht
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
The discussion centers on the mathematical impossibility of determining a number that, when multiplied by zero, equals one. It highlights that any number multiplied by zero results in zero, leading to the conclusion that 1/0 is undefined. The conversation explores the concept of representing 1/0 as a series of arbitrary variables, suggesting that it could encompass all real numbers simultaneously. The graph of y = 1/x is referenced to illustrate that as x approaches zero, y approaches all values on the y-axis. Ultimately, the conclusion is that 1/0 does not yield a single value but rather represents an infinite set of possibilities.
waht
Messages
1,499
Reaction score
4
if you recall basic division, what number times 0 equals 1, call it a.
a times 0 equals 0, subrtact and repeat. What number times 0 equals 1, call it b, and repeat the process.


a.bcdefg
--------
0|1.00000
0.00000
--------
1.000000
0.000000
----------
1.00000

although, a,b,c,d are arbitrary unkowns since we don't know what number times 0 equals 1.


so 1/0 = a*(10^0) + b*(10^-1) + c*(10^-2) + d*(10^-3) and so on.

If a,b,c,d... z take any value, then 1/0 is R (the set of all real numbers) It does not take a single value but all of them at the same time in R. It makes sense, the graph of y = 1/x , at x = 0 we get all the numbers in y-axis at the same time.
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
My threadlock sense is tingling.
 
Eeeeeenooooough!

- Warren
 
Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?

Similar threads

  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
572
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 55 ·
2
Replies
55
Views
6K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K