What happens?

[Kril'ya]

Infinity doesn't exist.

[Weaver]

Infinity doesn't exist.

I am not aware of the level of math you have under your belt but the statement "Infinity doesn't exist" needs to be defended/explained further before we can accept your statement.

In the strictest sense of "Infinity as a number", you are right, it does not exist. Infinity is not a number, it is a construct that mathematicians have which allow them to handle certain situations that come up frequently in mathemathics from Calculus onward.

If by chance we were to accept this line of thinking, then zero/zilch/nada/"0" would not exist either. Read on.

A prime use of numbers is representation. The number "0" represents nothingness. This can be confusing, why would someone want to represent nothing. Well, it turns out to be kind of useful to those crazy mathematicians we keep talking about. If you want proof that the number "0" is necessity, ask the Romans.

To put these two constructions together and to show their close relationship mathematically, we will explore one of the things we all had to learn in elemantary school... "Anything divided by "0" is not allowed."

In elementary school, "not allowed" is code for "this is beyond your current ability." Now that we are all adults, we can learn what really happens.

What happens when you punch in "1 / 0 " on your calculator? You will get "Undefined" on most calculators. While "Undefined" is true in a certain sense, we do know that the answer is going to be + or - [Infinity]. The + or - is because 0 is unsigned and can be both.

So the next time someone tells you anything divided by zero is not allowed or undefined, tell them they need to tweak their answer and consult this thread.

-Weaver

[Hugo van Dijk]

if you want to now wich idiot voted for implodes, well that was me

[Kril'ya]

Actually, I was given a reason that 1/0 is not +/- Infinity (I thought for the longest time that it was), but I forget the reason. Since generally I'm horrible at math (hate it with a passion... I'm going into foreign language, so factoring polynomials will not be on my list of stuff to do), anything I say regarding it is that much more likely to be wrong.

As far as "Infinity doesn't exist", yeah, I was referring to how many people treat it as if it were a number and not just an expression for what we can't seem to comprehend.

[Weaver]

The real answer is +- [Infinity]. Keep in mind that infinity is not a number, but a construction or an expression.

http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58497.html

Read the reply from Dr. Math.

If you have a defense that 1/0 is not +- [Infinity] please find it. Thanks.

-Weaver