Monday, October 29, 2018

Justifying why 0/0 is indeterminate and 1/0 is undefined



00=x
0x=0
x can be any value, therefore 00 can be any value, and is indeterminate.



10=x
0x=1
There is no such x that satisfies the above, therefore 10 is undefined.




Is this a reasonable or naive thought process?
It seems too simple to be true.


Answer



In the context of limits, 0/0 is an indeterminate form (limit could be anything) while 1/0 is not (limit either doesn't exist or is ±). This is a pretty reasonable way to think about why it is that 0/0 is indeterminate and 1/0 is not.



However, as algebraic expressions, neither is defined. Division requires multiplying by a multiplicative inverse, and 0 doesn't have one.


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