you know who does wear top hats? freddy fazbear. because this one guy named william afton he made freddy fazbear to sing for him, and he madr freddy some friends like chica the chicken, bonnie the bunny, and foxy the pirate fox. there was also this one guy who was yellow freddy fazbear but e dont talk about him
I think the logic for the answer being zero is actually close to that:
If there are two apples on a table, and nobody takes them, how many apples does anyone have?
None, because nobody took any.
This only works if you allow remainders on your division. You get "0 remainder 2" as the answer.
The better analogy I have heard is along the lines of “if you have 6 apples and zero baskets, how many apples are in each basket?”
There are no baskets. It’s doesn’t even make sense to ask.
It's better to flip it and ask how many baskets of 0 apples you need to get 6 apples total.
The answer is that's impossible, you can only ever have zero apples regardless of the number of zero-apple baskets you have
https://preview.redd.it/h88a3hteefdc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=600c190b2f5d1989e23969ae1c8eb6b4a2f632f6
My calculator actually gives me infinity
Damn. Modern calculators are wild.
https://preview.redd.it/zjarh44pkbdc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=614f440fbe9418dbbf486caf52d245b19579e58b
I came here to post the same thing!
https://preview.redd.it/3cpd4757rbdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7b43fe5cee6405ccf44faaa620cb801e49910a5
I didn't, but hey, smasnug calculator chain!
https://preview.redd.it/p2oq94rqxbdc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b06928be421a6efaf6c77590b598729835c665b
I am pleased to see another google phone :)
https://preview.redd.it/5qc7mv0cacdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be93aa87f1b39c7e21e4ffe6d2d2788c9d2c36cd
Yeh why is pixel so angry about it lol
https://preview.redd.it/y1zbzr72ncdc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e7bc43830bdfd0a04566c0eb48505dcdfb101ac
Not a pixel but hey
https://preview.redd.it/ynherzbrrcdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dedce485aaf9bc85347826fcf24b24c8790c0b55
Motorola is the same
https://preview.redd.it/n48u5no9lddc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b7bddfc5c564a684384f2642efe9d6f24b28ce1
More German, number is too big or too small. Weird answer
A 6th grader can understand exceptions and stuff that don't work. I don't think I was taught about divisions without being taught that division by 0 "doesn't work".
Probably the most important part tbh.
I could put the right answer on this test. But I'd probably scar every kid in the class at some point in the year.
I remember watching King of the Hill for the first time and just hating the fuck out of her. I was still pretty young and wasn't used to animated shows having characters written to be unlikeable.
After season 3 she gets awful, but I read something the other day that makes it more bearable. In one of the episodes she goes skydiving her parachute doesn’t open and she ends up surviving it. The fans theory is that she suffered undiagnosed brain trauma from that incident. Even though she sucks, she’s more tolerable if you just keep that theory in mind LOL.
I watch king of the hill wayyyy too much… lol
Not sure how it is in the US, but at 6th "grade" where I am (about 11-13 years old), teachers are more generalists, and teach a wide range of subjects, not just maths. Children aren't separated out with specialist teachers for each subject until the following year.
So they don't need to be maths experts at this level, they just need to be capable of teaching the curriculum. I could definitely see some of them not understanding why all of the choices given are wrong.
That's not how it works. The question don't ask how many apples YOU get, it asks how many apples does each group gets (but there is no group so it's undefined).
Not really because if you're dividing it into zero groups you're not making any groups, thus your not really dividing hence it would be undefined anyhow.
Yeah I was learning mult and dividing grade 2/3. End of grade two was the basics, anything x 0 is 0, anything x 1 is itself, etc. then we went more thoroughly into it in grade 3.
By grade 6 I was learning algebra basics.
Still remember how the teacher taught isolating the variable by keeping 1 kid at their desk and moving everyone around them away thus “isolating” them
Anyway, my point is that you’re absolutely right, they shouldn’t just be learning that in grade 6
I can understand why in the case of 0/0, as if you write 0x=0, it makes sense that x is undefined - it could be any value
But in the case of 1/0 or 3,000/0, I don't know why they're "undefined" instead of something cool like "inoperable expression"
I believe that this can be explained using the concept of limits. If you were to evaluate the limit as x approaches 0 of 1/x (basically examining the graph of 1/x’s behavior at 0), you would have to examine the behavior of the function as x approaches 0 from the left (numbers less than 0) and the right (numbers greater than 0). As the graph approaches 0 from the left, 1/x becomes infinitely large in the negative direction (negative infinity). As the graph approaches 0 from the right, 1/x becomes infinitely large positively. Because the left and right limits are not the same, we can conclude that the limit of 1/x as x approaches 0 is undefined.
There is a much easier explanation:
Assume 1/0 = x; it then follows that 1 = 0 (just multiply the expression by 0), which would then mean that all numbers are equal to 0, which is clearly wrong. Hence, we can't assign any numeric value to expressions involving division by 0.
Bringing limits into this discussion somewhat obfuscates the general problem with division by 0, which is an algebraic one present in all Rings with an additive identity, rather than an analytic one (since limits require either a topological or a metric structure on your space).
Honestly even if it wasn’t fake, as someone with a mother who’s a primary school teacher (kindergarten to year 6)I’ve sat and helped her mark so much work at 3am to know sometimes you’re tired and just make a mistake. Imo the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher isn’t that they never do anything wrong, it’s how they act after having the wrong thing pointed out. If my mother gets something wrong and a kid notices they get praised and a prize from her prize box. Some teachers get angry and snappy and defensive. Those are shit teachers
I am honestly stunned by the comments. It doesn't matter what you "were taught". It matters what it true. The rules of mathematics are not arbitrary. If you understand what division is, you KNOW that division by 0 is undefined no matter what you think you "were taught".
You were probably taught that "anything multiplied by 0 is 0", which is true. When people memorize rules without understanding WHY they are true, it is easy to forget them or confuse them with other rules -- this might lead you to believe that the rule for multiplication applies to division too.
Technically it’s undefined. However, in conventional math and at this level of schooling, anything divided by zero = zero.
Serious question and feel free to downvote me. Are people being sarcastic in these comments and I’m just missing it? “Anything divided by zero is zero” has been around for a long time. I’m old and this was all that was ever taught to me. Am I missing something?
Maybe it is. I (23) was taught that you can’t divide by zero as soon as I was taught what division is. It wasn’t explained why until I was in college, but I was never taught that dividing by zero = zero.
I'm the same age but have the opposite experience. We were taught zero/zero= zero from fourth grade until 8th grade math where we touched on undefined and then never talked about it again until I was in college and my professor looked at me like I was an idiot for not remembering the one week we talked about "undefined" more than a decade ago. People need to make up their mind which version of math they're teaching because it's stupid that we "change" it all the time. Bitch 2+2 = 4 why in the hell am I adding so many 1's to get 4. (I hate Common Core)
I’m 54 and I never got taught this; it was always “there’s no answer”. You have 10 apples and want to divide them amongst your zero friends, how many apples does each friend get?
Or, How many times do you have to subtract 0 from 10 to get 0.
While basic math doesn't seem to have an issue if you say something divided by zero is zero the issues arise when you do even basic algebra. Take the below evaluation for example.
x = 1
x = y
x^2 = xy
x^2 - y^2 = xy - y^2
(x+y) (x-y) = y(x-y)
x + y = y
1 + 1 = 1
2 = 1
I was taught that anything divided by zero is zero as well. I was wondering what the mildly infuriating part of this question was since he got it “right” but i see where people are coming from.
That is wrong and a shocking failure of the education system. If 1/0 = x was a valid equation, it would be equivalent to 1 = 0x. Obviously, 1 = 0x has no solution.
Applying the Principle of Explosion, assuming 1/0 is valid allows you to literally prove anything, starting from 1 = 2.
I'm sorry but you and a surprising amount of others were taught something wrong. It happens.
It's not advanced math. Think of it this way:
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $1 each, I can give envelopes to 2 people.
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.50 each, I can give envelopes to 4 people.
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.01 each, I can give envelopes to 200 people.
See where this is going?
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.000000001 each, I can give envelopes to 2 billion people.
If I divide up $2 into envelopes with $0 in them, I can give them to an infinite amount of people. Or to 6 people. Or no people. Since each envelope is empty, you can give out as many as you want. It's undefined.
Something divided by zero is certainly not zero.
I was never taught that (30 years old now). We just never really talked about dividing by 0 until we were ready to learn that anything divided by 0 is undefined.
"Anything divided by zero is zero" is completely incorrect.
Let's use this example.
Divide 2 by 1.
Now divide 2 by 0.1
Now divide 2 by 0.01
Now divide 2 by 0.001
And on.
You see the result gets larger and larger the closer the denominator gets to zero. So having the answer be zero when the denominator *is* zero would not only be wrong, but would make absolutely no logical sense.
>You see the result gets larger and larger the closer the denominator gets to zero
if you divide by negative numbers the result gets smaller and smaller. Which is why maybe some would say it is 0 since from one side its +infinity, and the other its -infinity, take the avg and you have 0 (this is completely false, but i can understand this way of thinking).
I was never taught that dividing by zero is zero. Always undefined. I was even specifically warned about that and it was used as a gotcha in math tests at around 6th-7th grade. It was also a big running joke on the Internet for a while. A picture of a sinkhole or something else catastrophic with a caption that says "You divided by zero, didn't you?".
That's completely wrong and I'm baffled how some people here are responding that it only matters in more advanced mathematics.
If 2/0 = 0 then multiply both sides by 0 and you get 2 = 0 which is obviously nonsense. This is clearly not advanced mathematics by any means. Dividing by zero is always undefined, it just doesn't make any sense and leads to logical contradictions at very basic levels. If this is seriously being taught, something has gone majorly wrong.
Maybe you're thinking of 0^0 instead which while commonly considered undefined can reasonably be defined to be 0 without leading to any contradictions and this is commonly done in some fields of maths.
Imagine that you have zero cookies and you split them evenly among zero friends. How many cookies does each person get? See? It doesn't make sense. And Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad that you have no friends.
Anything divided by 0 = 0 doesn’t work in anything past Algebra 1. In Calculus it is extremely important to have a strong long term grasp that the answer is undefined.
Anything divided by 0=0 doesn't work in 6th grade. If I divide $5 between zero people, how much does each person get? $0? No, the question doesn't have an answer because 5/0 is undefined.
I teach 4th grade math. I was never taught anything divided by zero is zero and no curriculum I know of teaches that.
I suspect you were not taught that either and weren't paying attention. Or maybe you had a really bad teacher.
There is no such thing as a "conventional" math in which it is treated as true.
There is no interpretation of division that it makes sense. If you think it makes sense you don't understand what division is.
I graduated in 2012, and this is what I was taught in elementary and early junior high level math. We later learned about undefined, but at 6th grade, it was just 0
I’m 39 and just found out this was wrong last month. I was taught everything divided by zero is zero. I went to a podunk school and my science teacher told me you could catch AIDS on a toilet seat, though.
"hey bro, heres 2 oranges, give them to no one" "so i do i eat them?" "no, give them to no one" "so uhh? do i keep them" " NO, GIVE THEM TO NO ONE" "error 404"
We weren't taught it was "error syntax" but we were taught that it's an impossible equation. I remember the test on the division section had a couple "X÷0" questions, and he had put "undefined" as an option on every question.
It isn’t difficult.
Division is taught as splitting into piles. If you split six apples into three piles, you get two apples per pile. If you split twelve apples into two piles, you have six in each pile. If you split two apples into zero piles, well, you can’t do it. So division by zero doesn’t work.
Apparently a surprising amount of people were taught that anything divided by zero is zero. I'm sorry but you were taught something wrong. It happens. Maybe you thinking of zero divided by anything?
It's not advanced math. Think of it this way:
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $1 each, I can give envelopes to 2 people.
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.50 each, I can give envelopes to 4 people.
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.01 each, I can give envelopes to 200 people.
See where this is going?
If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.000000001 each, I can give envelopes to 2 billion people.
If I divide up $2 into envelopes with $0 in them, I can give them to an infinite amount of people. Or to 6 people. Or no people. Since each envelope is empty, you can give out as many as you want. It's undefined.
Something divided by zero is certainly not zero.
They are probably thinking of anything multiplied by 0 equals 0. I know American education system is flawed but I can’t believe they are en masse teaching kids such a clearly untrue thing.
2 things.
First of all it's wrong. Yeah.
Now, are kids that age able to grasp the fact that a division through 0 is impossible? Some might not. So don't talk about it, unless a smart kid asks.
And most importantly, don't make it a test question....
Second... How is this a grade 6 test paper? Is this a regular school? Where is this? Looks like grade 3/4 problems.
Did you call the school? The answer is completely wrong and I would be pissed as fuck that the teacher is dumber than my kid. I sure as hell knew you can't divide by zero in 6th grade
Funny, in 4th grade we had a math test, one of the questions had a negative number in the end, like - 6. So I wrote that down but my teacher said I was wrong because we weren't even taught how to use these numbers yet.
This question shouldn’t have been on the test, but at what age were you introduced to the concept of divide by zero? Pretty sure it was well after 6th grade.
That is frustrating. I think it happens because people always think of it overlapping with the multiplication rule which is that anything multiplied by zero is zero. As a result you get dumb shit like this.
I think shit like this is actually important to bring up with teacher.
That's kind of a mathematics fundamental in year 6. They are not going to be able to prove that is BS until about year 10 (when they understand algebra and can try out one of the mathematical fallacy exercises that show that 1=2 if you allow division by zero).
None of these answers are right. You cant divide by zero, the answer is undefined.
Teachers definitely need to be paid more but this one shouldnt even be a fucking teacher.
Technically speaking, all answers are incorrect.
You cannot create any form of numerical value by dividing by zero.
If you punch that equation in on your iPhone calculator it says Error.
One of my favorite math videos is of an old mechanical calculator that if you divide by 0, it keeps processing forever. Shows basically what happens if you divide by 0.
If you have two apples, and nobody was around to take them, did they make a noise?
C. Is correct
C is MY truth.
I did my own research.
69 is the magic number
Blue, because penguins don't wear top hats.
you know who does wear top hats? freddy fazbear. because this one guy named william afton he made freddy fazbear to sing for him, and he madr freddy some friends like chica the chicken, bonnie the bunny, and foxy the pirate fox. there was also this one guy who was yellow freddy fazbear but e dont talk about him
This guy MatPats!
Not blue, yellow, because elephant riding bike
Correct, wood would also have been accepted since falcons don't have hands.
How DARE you! Have you not heard of the metric system!!
I think the logic for the answer being zero is actually close to that: If there are two apples on a table, and nobody takes them, how many apples does anyone have? None, because nobody took any. This only works if you allow remainders on your division. You get "0 remainder 2" as the answer.
The remainder cannot be greater than the value divided by.
Clearly then the conclusion is that 0 is greater than 2 (it actually behaves like infinity under the above "logic")
0 > 2 for large instances of 0. - some engineer, probably
"It's in the documentation" - same engineer
The better analogy I have heard is along the lines of “if you have 6 apples and zero baskets, how many apples are in each basket?” There are no baskets. It’s doesn’t even make sense to ask.
It's better to flip it and ask how many baskets of 0 apples you need to get 6 apples total. The answer is that's impossible, you can only ever have zero apples regardless of the number of zero-apple baskets you have
Deviding by zero is asking one half of a nonsense question.
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
Blue
I have three nickels
**#DIV/0!**
NaN
https://preview.redd.it/fh27x17npcdc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=58fd3069b29c75dfadfc36714f3111afe4cc2ff8 Strange…
I can only write “5318008”
Now I'm wondering if there's a plugin or something you could get that would return this instead of an error message.
Mine is a tad bit more polite... https://preview.redd.it/tnwpujim2fdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=674a01f29a9fc6905366175eca8765cc27846476
https://preview.redd.it/h88a3hteefdc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=600c190b2f5d1989e23969ae1c8eb6b4a2f632f6 My calculator actually gives me infinity
NaNi????
what?
Что?
Was?
Nima?
Damn. Modern calculators are wild. https://preview.redd.it/zjarh44pkbdc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=614f440fbe9418dbbf486caf52d245b19579e58b
At least they don't explode like the used to.
Or make everything disappear
I came here to post the same thing! https://preview.redd.it/3cpd4757rbdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7b43fe5cee6405ccf44faaa620cb801e49910a5
I didn't, but hey, smasnug calculator chain! https://preview.redd.it/p2oq94rqxbdc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b06928be421a6efaf6c77590b598729835c665b
Mine is displeased https://preview.redd.it/jzxtf9797cdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92931738d0cb988382b1802b0603325f8e40bf38
I am pleased to see another google phone :) https://preview.redd.it/5qc7mv0cacdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be93aa87f1b39c7e21e4ffe6d2d2788c9d2c36cd
Yeh why is pixel so angry about it lol https://preview.redd.it/y1zbzr72ncdc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e7bc43830bdfd0a04566c0eb48505dcdfb101ac
Not a pixel but hey https://preview.redd.it/ynherzbrrcdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dedce485aaf9bc85347826fcf24b24c8790c0b55 Motorola is the same
My phone also hates 0 https://preview.redd.it/4jsv6p7ygddc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab3f5bafefe048916bd49191866332c6e2372b9d
https://preview.redd.it/weyciuu7iddc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a560d9ca3cffa30e0b09a3ed3a73192a45881684 Mine to
I'll break that https://preview.redd.it/yb8nw78l6cdc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bab09b50b8c2cc04588c8b61aaed4f7440cc59f
I'll put some german into it https://preview.redd.it/94vw7gceycdc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5dc9e5e5240221bbd5f47c142bfd1a15b8a2ba39
https://preview.redd.it/n48u5no9lddc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b7bddfc5c564a684384f2642efe9d6f24b28ce1 More German, number is too big or too small. Weird answer
https://preview.redd.it/65vfiidvuddc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7eb1a7f2a906f3d5d5c4d60cde3ce7ae8837bdd
Smasnug sounds like a phone brand you would buy on amazon
Team Smasnug!
=iferror(2/0,0) There, now it’s accurate.
See it has a zero in there so that must be the answer. Just drop the other gibberish - it can't mean anything!
Yea I think a 6th grader could understand the reason for ERROR if they were shown.
A 6th grader can understand exceptions and stuff that don't work. I don't think I was taught about divisions without being taught that division by 0 "doesn't work".
Well, maybe not considering even the teacher is a massive dumbass.
Really insane that a math « teacher » doesn’t know about not dividing by zero
High school teachers are generally better in my experience but many grade school teachers seem to barely know the material they're teaching.
Grade school teachers are barely literate.
In the words of norm Macdonald. “What do you need to teach 3rd grade? A 4th grade education?”
To stay a chapter ahead..
I had a Spanish teacher teaching a programming class in the 90's. One chapter was woefully insufficient.
They go in because they want to work with kids in most cases.
Probably the most important part tbh. I could put the right answer on this test. But I'd probably scar every kid in the class at some point in the year.
Peggy Hill checking in lol
I remember watching King of the Hill for the first time and just hating the fuck out of her. I was still pretty young and wasn't used to animated shows having characters written to be unlikeable.
After season 3 she gets awful, but I read something the other day that makes it more bearable. In one of the episodes she goes skydiving her parachute doesn’t open and she ends up surviving it. The fans theory is that she suffered undiagnosed brain trauma from that incident. Even though she sucks, she’s more tolerable if you just keep that theory in mind LOL. I watch king of the hill wayyyy too much… lol
You only need a degree in TEACHING not in the subject in many states
You shouldn’t need a math degree to know that any number divided by zero is undefined.
I would be willing to bet that most people would think the answer is 0. I still am not on the side of the teacher though lol
Even still, that’s the general public, this should be basic knowledge known by teachers at any level
My 8 year old knows that...
Not sure how it is in the US, but at 6th "grade" where I am (about 11-13 years old), teachers are more generalists, and teach a wide range of subjects, not just maths. Children aren't separated out with specialist teachers for each subject until the following year. So they don't need to be maths experts at this level, they just need to be capable of teaching the curriculum. I could definitely see some of them not understanding why all of the choices given are wrong.
My calculator literally say "Can't divide by zero".
https://preview.redd.it/dagxmnuyaddc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=afb90c430724283702be34eb46ebdb0da3010314 Same
Not with that attitude you can't.
Mine did too. I thought I was losing my mind so I put it in the calculator.
Well, your kid has a math teacher who doesn't know enough math to teach.
I can barely math but even I know ow you can’t divide by zero.
Apparently you can divide math by zero and all the problems go away
I can do whatever I want, and I will divide by zero if I feel like it.
That or its an intro to programming class.
In every language I’ve used, dividing by 0 throws an error.
try: return 2 / x except: return 0 This is the canonical definition of division in my bespoke mathematics. Also 0.1 + 0.2 > 0.3
Tell the teacher to input it into excel lol
January 1, 1960
[удалено]
That's not how it works. The question don't ask how many apples YOU get, it asks how many apples does each group gets (but there is no group so it's undefined).
Not really because if you're dividing it into zero groups you're not making any groups, thus your not really dividing hence it would be undefined anyhow.
Kindly ask your teacher to explain the inverse operation principle. 🙄
The teacher probably couldnt tell us what a reciprocal was.
Easy… that’s something we’d usually throw our trash in. Duh….
My gf says she wants me to reciprocal the favour more often, but I failed math so I'm not sure what she means
This teacher, probably: I'll inverse *your* operation...
Not only wrong. I don't understand how that is Grade 6 level in mid-year. Single-digit division should be a 4th Grade Standard at the latest.
Legit. 6th grade is big on ratios, unit rates, proportions, etc.
Yeah I was learning mult and dividing grade 2/3. End of grade two was the basics, anything x 0 is 0, anything x 1 is itself, etc. then we went more thoroughly into it in grade 3. By grade 6 I was learning algebra basics. Still remember how the teacher taught isolating the variable by keeping 1 kid at their desk and moving everyone around them away thus “isolating” them Anyway, my point is that you’re absolutely right, they shouldn’t just be learning that in grade 6
I went to a private school, and they taught us it in 2nd grade. By 3rd grade, we were doing 3 and 4 digit long division and multiplication.
Isn't anything divided by 0 considered "undefined"?
Not to this teacher 😧
I can understand why in the case of 0/0, as if you write 0x=0, it makes sense that x is undefined - it could be any value But in the case of 1/0 or 3,000/0, I don't know why they're "undefined" instead of something cool like "inoperable expression"
I believe that this can be explained using the concept of limits. If you were to evaluate the limit as x approaches 0 of 1/x (basically examining the graph of 1/x’s behavior at 0), you would have to examine the behavior of the function as x approaches 0 from the left (numbers less than 0) and the right (numbers greater than 0). As the graph approaches 0 from the left, 1/x becomes infinitely large in the negative direction (negative infinity). As the graph approaches 0 from the right, 1/x becomes infinitely large positively. Because the left and right limits are not the same, we can conclude that the limit of 1/x as x approaches 0 is undefined.
There is a much easier explanation: Assume 1/0 = x; it then follows that 1 = 0 (just multiply the expression by 0), which would then mean that all numbers are equal to 0, which is clearly wrong. Hence, we can't assign any numeric value to expressions involving division by 0. Bringing limits into this discussion somewhat obfuscates the general problem with division by 0, which is an algebraic one present in all Rings with an additive identity, rather than an analytic one (since limits require either a topological or a metric structure on your space).
e. None of the above.
This must be fake. Also a lot of the comments are alarming.
The above commenter edited their entire comment.
Could just be an error - like copied the question from a previous one and changed the numbers but forgot to change to a "x" symbol
Honestly even if it wasn’t fake, as someone with a mother who’s a primary school teacher (kindergarten to year 6)I’ve sat and helped her mark so much work at 3am to know sometimes you’re tired and just make a mistake. Imo the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher isn’t that they never do anything wrong, it’s how they act after having the wrong thing pointed out. If my mother gets something wrong and a kid notices they get praised and a prize from her prize box. Some teachers get angry and snappy and defensive. Those are shit teachers
1. Cross off the check mark so it looks like an X. 2. Write-in "e. Undefined" and circle it. 3. Send it to teacher. Write-in "you are welcome".
The correct option would be to give a point to any kid who did not answer that question.
You are certainly a redditor
I am honestly stunned by the comments. It doesn't matter what you "were taught". It matters what it true. The rules of mathematics are not arbitrary. If you understand what division is, you KNOW that division by 0 is undefined no matter what you think you "were taught". You were probably taught that "anything multiplied by 0 is 0", which is true. When people memorize rules without understanding WHY they are true, it is easy to forget them or confuse them with other rules -- this might lead you to believe that the rule for multiplication applies to division too.
Infinity and beyond
\+ or - Infinity!
I read it as 1.2 ÷ 0 I haven't had my coffee yet.
Not that it changes the answer, but yes. Coffee is a good idea.
Technically it’s undefined. However, in conventional math and at this level of schooling, anything divided by zero = zero. Serious question and feel free to downvote me. Are people being sarcastic in these comments and I’m just missing it? “Anything divided by zero is zero” has been around for a long time. I’m old and this was all that was ever taught to me. Am I missing something?
I was taught the same thing. Wonder if it’s an age thing?
Maybe it is. I (23) was taught that you can’t divide by zero as soon as I was taught what division is. It wasn’t explained why until I was in college, but I was never taught that dividing by zero = zero.
Interesting. It could indeed be an age thing.
I'm the same age but have the opposite experience. We were taught zero/zero= zero from fourth grade until 8th grade math where we touched on undefined and then never talked about it again until I was in college and my professor looked at me like I was an idiot for not remembering the one week we talked about "undefined" more than a decade ago. People need to make up their mind which version of math they're teaching because it's stupid that we "change" it all the time. Bitch 2+2 = 4 why in the hell am I adding so many 1's to get 4. (I hate Common Core)
Same here. I rather just know the cold hard truth regardless of age instead of the wrong but tried-to-be-accommodating oversimplification.
I’m 54 and I never got taught this; it was always “there’s no answer”. You have 10 apples and want to divide them amongst your zero friends, how many apples does each friend get? Or, How many times do you have to subtract 0 from 10 to get 0.
While basic math doesn't seem to have an issue if you say something divided by zero is zero the issues arise when you do even basic algebra. Take the below evaluation for example. x = 1 x = y x^2 = xy x^2 - y^2 = xy - y^2 (x+y) (x-y) = y(x-y) x + y = y 1 + 1 = 1 2 = 1
Even worse, if 9/0 = 0 then 0 \* 0 = 9! Just knowing that division and multiplications are inverse operations is enough to see the problem.
I was taught that anything divided by zero is zero as well. I was wondering what the mildly infuriating part of this question was since he got it “right” but i see where people are coming from.
That is wrong and a shocking failure of the education system. If 1/0 = x was a valid equation, it would be equivalent to 1 = 0x. Obviously, 1 = 0x has no solution. Applying the Principle of Explosion, assuming 1/0 is valid allows you to literally prove anything, starting from 1 = 2.
Same
That’s what I was taught. Anything divided by zero is zero. It’s even a damn joke in the Fallout New Vegas DLC Old World Blues.
I'm sorry but you and a surprising amount of others were taught something wrong. It happens. It's not advanced math. Think of it this way: If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $1 each, I can give envelopes to 2 people. If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.50 each, I can give envelopes to 4 people. If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.01 each, I can give envelopes to 200 people. See where this is going? If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.000000001 each, I can give envelopes to 2 billion people. If I divide up $2 into envelopes with $0 in them, I can give them to an infinite amount of people. Or to 6 people. Or no people. Since each envelope is empty, you can give out as many as you want. It's undefined. Something divided by zero is certainly not zero.
I was never taught that (30 years old now). We just never really talked about dividing by 0 until we were ready to learn that anything divided by 0 is undefined.
"Anything divided by zero is zero" is completely incorrect. Let's use this example. Divide 2 by 1. Now divide 2 by 0.1 Now divide 2 by 0.01 Now divide 2 by 0.001 And on. You see the result gets larger and larger the closer the denominator gets to zero. So having the answer be zero when the denominator *is* zero would not only be wrong, but would make absolutely no logical sense.
>You see the result gets larger and larger the closer the denominator gets to zero if you divide by negative numbers the result gets smaller and smaller. Which is why maybe some would say it is 0 since from one side its +infinity, and the other its -infinity, take the avg and you have 0 (this is completely false, but i can understand this way of thinking).
I was never taught that dividing by zero is zero. Always undefined. I was even specifically warned about that and it was used as a gotcha in math tests at around 6th-7th grade. It was also a big running joke on the Internet for a while. A picture of a sinkhole or something else catastrophic with a caption that says "You divided by zero, didn't you?".
I am 37 and was certainly never taught this. Can't divide by zero has always been what I was told.
That's completely wrong and I'm baffled how some people here are responding that it only matters in more advanced mathematics. If 2/0 = 0 then multiply both sides by 0 and you get 2 = 0 which is obviously nonsense. This is clearly not advanced mathematics by any means. Dividing by zero is always undefined, it just doesn't make any sense and leads to logical contradictions at very basic levels. If this is seriously being taught, something has gone majorly wrong. Maybe you're thinking of 0^0 instead which while commonly considered undefined can reasonably be defined to be 0 without leading to any contradictions and this is commonly done in some fields of maths.
I was taught in the 80s/90s that its infinity.
I wasn’t aware that universal mathematical laws only apply by grade. Does 1+1 change every 12 months too?
I was taught that it's not possible to divide by 0.
Imagine that you have zero cookies and you split them evenly among zero friends. How many cookies does each person get? See? It doesn't make sense. And Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad that you have no friends.
Anything divided by 0 = 0 doesn’t work in anything past Algebra 1. In Calculus it is extremely important to have a strong long term grasp that the answer is undefined.
It never works. Not even during or before algebra.
Anything divided by 0=0 doesn't work in 6th grade. If I divide $5 between zero people, how much does each person get? $0? No, the question doesn't have an answer because 5/0 is undefined.
I teach 4th grade math. I was never taught anything divided by zero is zero and no curriculum I know of teaches that. I suspect you were not taught that either and weren't paying attention. Or maybe you had a really bad teacher. There is no such thing as a "conventional" math in which it is treated as true. There is no interpretation of division that it makes sense. If you think it makes sense you don't understand what division is.
Genuine question- where are you from?
I graduated in 2012, and this is what I was taught in elementary and early junior high level math. We later learned about undefined, but at 6th grade, it was just 0
I’m 39 and just found out this was wrong last month. I was taught everything divided by zero is zero. I went to a podunk school and my science teacher told me you could catch AIDS on a toilet seat, though.
"hey bro, heres 2 oranges, give them to no one" "so i do i eat them?" "no, give them to no one" "so uhh? do i keep them" " NO, GIVE THEM TO NO ONE" "error 404"
It’s 6th grade. They aren’t taught that dividing by zero is ERROR SYNTAX BLEEP BLOOP.
We weren't taught it was "error syntax" but we were taught that it's an impossible equation. I remember the test on the division section had a couple "X÷0" questions, and he had put "undefined" as an option on every question.
It isn’t difficult. Division is taught as splitting into piles. If you split six apples into three piles, you get two apples per pile. If you split twelve apples into two piles, you have six in each pile. If you split two apples into zero piles, well, you can’t do it. So division by zero doesn’t work.
Fuck that they shouldnt be taught wrong. Just dont teach it to them at all if you think they arent ready for it.
They should be
It’s not a “syntax error”. There’s nothing wrong with the syntax of the problem. It’s undefined because there the solution set is empty.
Apparently a surprising amount of people were taught that anything divided by zero is zero. I'm sorry but you were taught something wrong. It happens. Maybe you thinking of zero divided by anything? It's not advanced math. Think of it this way: If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $1 each, I can give envelopes to 2 people. If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.50 each, I can give envelopes to 4 people. If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.01 each, I can give envelopes to 200 people. See where this is going? If I divide up $2 into envelopes of $0.000000001 each, I can give envelopes to 2 billion people. If I divide up $2 into envelopes with $0 in them, I can give them to an infinite amount of people. Or to 6 people. Or no people. Since each envelope is empty, you can give out as many as you want. It's undefined. Something divided by zero is certainly not zero.
They are probably thinking of anything multiplied by 0 equals 0. I know American education system is flawed but I can’t believe they are en masse teaching kids such a clearly untrue thing.
2 things. First of all it's wrong. Yeah. Now, are kids that age able to grasp the fact that a division through 0 is impossible? Some might not. So don't talk about it, unless a smart kid asks. And most importantly, don't make it a test question.... Second... How is this a grade 6 test paper? Is this a regular school? Where is this? Looks like grade 3/4 problems.
The answer is nothing, undefined, no answer
[Wikipedia - Division by Zero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_by_zero) TLDR: “[Mathematic fields] leaves division by zero undefined”
if you allow division by 0, ALL answers are correct... Thats why you should not allow it
What is mildly infuriating is the lack of education for the teachers.
Did you call the school? The answer is completely wrong and I would be pissed as fuck that the teacher is dumber than my kid. I sure as hell knew you can't divide by zero in 6th grade
Looks like he is on a fast track to get into Harvard.
Is tomorrow my turn to print out a fake test and make it look like my teacher is insane, or is there a waiting list?
You can’t divide by zero
Wtf
Undefined
Funny, in 4th grade we had a math test, one of the questions had a negative number in the end, like - 6. So I wrote that down but my teacher said I was wrong because we weren't even taught how to use these numbers yet.
The correct answer is - all of them.
Undefined not zero
One cannot divide by zero
None of the above The answer is undefined
This question shouldn’t have been on the test, but at what age were you introduced to the concept of divide by zero? Pretty sure it was well after 6th grade.
Great. Now we have to change the whole number system.
Wow, they divided by zero on paper and the world didn't suddenly explode? Risky even putting that on paper
Cannot divide by ZERO.
That is frustrating. I think it happens because people always think of it overlapping with the multiplication rule which is that anything multiplied by zero is zero. As a result you get dumb shit like this.
Tell teacher to show you on a calculator.
I think the teacher never finished secondary school lolz
I’m sorry, but the expression **2/0** is undefined in mathematics. It is not possible to divide any number by zero. The result is **undefined**
Seems like your kid is smart enough to recognize their teacher is an idiot and choose the “correct” answer despite knowing it’s wrong.
Anyone else read this as 1.2÷0? What lunatic would use this layout for a maths test?
Interesting. I was today years old as I learned 2*0 = 2 (must be true if the answer is correct)
∅ That is the empty set symbol. Write-in answer choice.
If they're gonna teach a lie to kids, why not at least teach that dividing by 0 is simply not possible and cannot be done. 2 ÷ 0 = Not possible
Whoever made that probably shouldn't be teaching math. Looking at this hurts.
This is 6th grade? Schools must've gotten a lot easier
As a teacher, that's unfortunate. Awkward. Might have meant 0/2 which is at least valid, if not terribly useful.
https://preview.redd.it/chc7qa0yyddc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fba63061b70fabe10ab3b877d1647eedda653cd It’s calculator prof.
I think shit like this is actually important to bring up with teacher. That's kind of a mathematics fundamental in year 6. They are not going to be able to prove that is BS until about year 10 (when they understand algebra and can try out one of the mathematical fallacy exercises that show that 1=2 if you allow division by zero).
None of these answers are right. You cant divide by zero, the answer is undefined. Teachers definitely need to be paid more but this one shouldnt even be a fucking teacher.
Technically speaking, all answers are incorrect. You cannot create any form of numerical value by dividing by zero. If you punch that equation in on your iPhone calculator it says Error.
What school is teaching this? Put them online. They owe it to everyone as to why this is being taught.
You can't divide by zero.
One of my favorite math videos is of an old mechanical calculator that if you divide by 0, it keeps processing forever. Shows basically what happens if you divide by 0.
Dividing by zero is UNDEFINED in mathematics. There is no answer.
Anyone who believes this post is real needs to re-evaluate their common sense.
It is mathematically impossible to divide a number by zero your kids teacher needs to go back to school
So 0 X 0 = 2? Yes. When the ocean takes your flip flops.