When is 0 undefined

But when 0 is divided 0, it is called indeterminate. One difference between them is that undefined is no value , and indeterminate is any value. With undefined, think back to the terrible pizza party.

If you try to split 3 pizzas and everybody gets 0 slices, the pizza will not be split no matter how many people come. Since no number of people can split the pizza, undefined means no value. But indeterminate is slightly different: there is no meaning to 00 because we have competing approaches on how to solve this problem. We know that 0 divided by any number is 0, but we also know that any number divided by 0 is undefined.

Which piece of information do we use? This conflict is why we call this form indeterminate. Replace the 3 by some other positive integer , and the problem works out the same way. Here's a fantastic video by Numberphile explaining what goes on behind the scenes when you divide by 0, have 00, and have We know that division is the same as repeated subtraction. Dividing by 0 would be repeatedly subtracting 0 from a number.

This would go on forever and we would never reach an answer. What is infinity to the 0 power? What is 0 raised to a negative power? Is zero can be negative? Why is raising a number to the zero power one? What is 2 The Power of 0? What does to the 3rd power mean? Previous Article What is the answer of 0 by 1? Next Article What do you do if you find a lost dog? Well, we can also put in a 5 if we wanted to because zero times 5 equals zero, so it still works for that second part.

We can actually plug in anything into there. We can say, zero over zero equals x. We still have zero times x equals zero. But what I'm getting at is that it is the first part that is not being satisfied. Because what happens is that if we can say that zero, 5, or basically any number, then that means that that "c" is not unique. So, in this scenario the first part doesn't work. So, that means that this is going to be undefined. So zero divided by zero is undefined.

So, let's label it as that. Make sure that when you are faced with something of this nature, where you are dividing by zero make sure you don't put an actual number down, or a variable down. Just say that it equals "undefined.

Active 2 years, 1 month ago. Viewed 6k times. So what is the answer in strict mathematical terms: undefined or indeterminate? Sierra Sierra 3 3 silver badges 9 9 bronze badges. Whether that definition will be consistent within whatever axioms you are working in is another question altogether. So I am not sure that "undefined implies indeterminate" is correct, at least in this lingo. Show 2 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. It is a breach of the rules, but I'm not sure it's a breach of logical rules or a fallacy, so much as a breach of the rules for forming valid expressions.

Aren't the two statements equivalent? If any subexpression is undefined, the whole expression is undefined. The physical answer is that there is no experimental evidence what would violate the Lorenz-invariance. All physical theories have their limit of validity. Theories become typically invalid around their singularities i.