Quote:
Originally Posted by Solitaire1
Since division by zero isn't allowed, there's no final decimal point to figure. It's the same as calculating an irrational number to the last decimal place; an impossible task.
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No, no, no. Division by zero is nothing like calculating an irrational number (e.g. square root of 2).
It isn't that there's a rule "don't divide by zero". It's that "divide x by zero" has no mathematical meaning. It's like saying "Multiply x by mauve".
Division is the inverse function of multiplication. The result of x divided by y (say, z) is defined as that z which when multiplied by y gives x.
But if y = 0, there is no such z for any x != 0. And if x=0,
any z works.
Division by zero is just undefined. The result isn't just impossible to fully write down as a decimal, like irrational numbers. It doesn't exist at all.
I win.