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Zero divided by a negative or positive number is either zero or is expressed as a fraction with zero as numerator and the finite quantity as denominator. Zero divided by zero is zero. In 830, Mahāvīra unsuccessfully tried to correct the mistake Brahmagupta made in his book Ganita Sara Samgraha : "A number remains unchanged when divided by zero."
But clearly not all real numbers are solutions to the original equation. The problem is that multiplication by zero is not invertible: if we multiply by any nonzero value, we can reverse the step by dividing by the same value, but division by zero is not defined, so multiplication by zero cannot be reversed.
For example, in the real numbers one cannot divide by zero [11] or take square roots of negative numbers. The values for which an operation is defined form a set called its domain of definition or active domain .
The report implied that Anderson had discovered the solution to division by zero, rather than simply attempting to formalize it. The report also suggested that Anderson was the first to solve this problem, when in fact the result of zero divided by zero has been expressed formally in a number of different ways (for example, NaN ).
In arithmetic, and therefore algebra, division by zero is undefined. [7] Use of a division by zero in an arithmetical calculation or proof, can produce absurd or meaningless results. Assuming that division by zero exists, can produce inconsistent logical results, such as the following fallacious "proof" that one is equal to two [8]:
A number that does not evenly divide but leaves a remainder is sometimes called an aliquant part of . An integer n > 1 {\displaystyle n>1} whose only proper divisor is 1 is called a prime number . Equivalently, a prime number is a positive integer that has exactly two positive factors: 1 and itself.
Integers are not closed under division. Apart from division by zero being undefined, the quotient is not an integer unless the dividend is an integer multiple of the divisor. For example, 26 cannot be divided by 11 to give an integer. Such a case uses one of five approaches: Say that 26 cannot be divided by 11; division becomes a partial function.
On the discrete level, conditioning is possible only if the condition is of nonzero probability (one cannot divide by zero). On the level of densities, conditioning on X = x is possible even though P ( X = x) = 0. This success may create the illusion that conditioning is always possible. Regretfully, it is not, for several reasons presented below.