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# Why is zero divided by any number zero again?

2018-06-24 11:00:13

Why is zero divided by any number zero again? I mean division means partition of something or number of times a number contains within another number. But zero seems neither of them to me.

If you have no apples, and you want to split them fairly between three people, then each person gets... Zero apples. In other words, \$0\div 3=0\$.

You can get technical with definitions of what division actually means, and prove it from there. But those definitions are made to be able to rigourously define (and generalise) the intuition from situations like the situation above. I think that's unnecessary at this stage.

• If you have no apples, and you want to split them fairly between three people, then each person gets... Zero apples. In other words, \$0\div 3=0\$.

You can get technical with definitions of what division actually means, and prove it from there. But those definitions are made to be able to rigourously define (and generalise) the intuition from situations like the situation above. I think that's unnecessary at this stage.

2018-06-24 13:15:49