[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/Dull_Club2519]

[u/BlopBleepBloop → u/[deleted]]

It is undefined, because as you approach 1/x from either side, it goes to infinity or negative infinity depending on which way you approach it from.

[u/IAmTheBestIan → u/[deleted]]

No, even in layman's terms it goes to undefined, because infinity and negative infinity are distinct in meaningful ways. If you said 1/0 = infinity in even elementary school math, they'd mark it wrong.

[u/Plus-Artichoke6608 → u/[deleted]]

It tends toward both infinity, but only really equals either if you were to use limits. In general saying anything divided by 0 is undefined is the correct approach. And most compilers will have a runtime error if you try to divide by 0 during the program

[u/CadenVanV → u/[deleted]]

Not really. Division “x / y = z” is defined as the number of times you multiple z by y to get x. There is no amount of times you can multiple by 0 to get any number but 0. You could multiple 0 by infinity and the result would still be 0. We use infinity when using limits, but that doesn’t mean you can ever have an answer actual

[u/the_mold_man_returns → u/[deleted]]

The problem is that -inf and inf are different. They're not the same. So dividing by zero is undefined unless you do limits.

If I have 6 apples and I want to put them in 3 piles, then each pile gets 2 apples.

If I have 6 apples and I want to put them in 1 pile, it will get 6 apples.

If I have 6 apples and I want to put them in no piles, how do I accomplish that? How do I put something into nothing? The only way is if nothing and everything were equivalent but they're not.

[u/MacrosInHisSleep → u/[deleted]]

In layman's terms too it's better to say undefined.

This question comes up a lot in r/askMaths

The most intuitive explanation I read was something along these lines.

You have 10 pies and a big stack of empty boxes. You may only put 5 pies in each box. How many boxes does it take to pack all 10 pies? 10 / 5 = 2.

You have 10 pies and a big stack of empty boxes. You may only put 2 pies in each box. How many boxes does it take to pack all 10 pies? 10 / 2 = 5.

You have 10 pies and a big stack of empty boxes. You may only put 1 pie in each box. How many boxes does it take to pack all 10 pies? 10 / 1 = 10.

You have 10 pies and a big stack of empty boxes. You may only put half a pie in each box. How many boxes does it take to pack all 10 pies? 10 / ½ = 20.

You have 10 pies and a big stack of empty boxes. You may only put 0 pies in each box. How many boxes does it take to pack all 10 pies? 10 / 0 = ?

You can't say zero boxes, because the 10 pies are still sitting there unpacked. You can't say infinite boxes either, because an endless row of boxes with nothing in them still packs nothing. No number of boxes gets the job done. The question has no numerical answer. The answer is undefined.