Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

1200-year-old problem 'easy' [dividing by zero]
BBC ^ | 12/8/06

Posted on 12/08/2006 12:20:06 PM PST by LibWhacker

Schoolchildren from Caversham have become the first to learn a brand new theory that dividing by zero is possible using a new number - 'nullity'. But the suggestion has left many mathematicians cold.

Dr James Anderson, from the University of Reading's computer science department, says his new theorem solves an extremely important problem - the problem of nothing.

"Imagine you're landing on an aeroplane and the automatic pilot's working," he suggests. "If it divides by zero and the computer stops working - you're in big trouble. If your heart pacemaker divides by zero, you're dead."

Computers simply cannot divide by zero. Try it on your calculator and you'll get an error message.

But Dr Anderson has come up with a theory that proposes a new number - 'nullity' - which sits outside the conventional number line (stretching from negative infinity, through zero, to positive infinity).

'Quite cool'

The theory of nullity is set to make all kinds of sums possible that, previously, scientists and computers couldn't work around.

"We've just solved a problem that hasn't been solved for twelve hundred years - and it's that easy," proclaims Dr Anderson having demonstrated his solution on a whiteboard at Highdown School, in Emmer Green.

"It was confusing at first, but I think I've got it. Just about," said one pupil.

"We're the first schoolkids to be able to do it - that's quite cool," added another.

Despite being a problem tackled by the famous mathematicians Newton and Pythagoras without success, it seems the Year 10 children at Highdown now know their nullity.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: anderson; dividing; easy; education; iaresmart; piledhigheranddeeper; publickskool; pythagoras; zero
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 321-333 next last
To: Glenn

2=2=5 for LARGE values of 2


21 posted on 12/08/2006 12:32:34 PM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Rozerem commercials give me nightmares)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: bert

once more with fingers......

2+2=5 for LARGE values of 2


22 posted on 12/08/2006 12:33:53 PM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Rozerem commercials give me nightmares)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: bert

once more with fingers......

2+2=5 for LARGE values of 2


23 posted on 12/08/2006 12:33:57 PM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Rozerem commercials give me nightmares)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: billbears

Only Chuck Norris can divide by zero. Plus, Chuck Norris has counted to infinity.....twice.


24 posted on 12/08/2006 12:33:58 PM PST by quikdrw (Life is tough....it's even tougher if you are stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Ken522
Wouldn't it be easier to convert the numbers into logarithms and subtract them?

Lordy, I hope you simply forgot the /sarcasm tag....

25 posted on 12/08/2006 12:34:01 PM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
In my code, I have to pre-test any division to ensure that it's not attempting a divide-by-zero. If it is, I often substitute a really-tiny-number, and procede with the division. The result is a really-big-number, but that's OK, the rest of the algoritm still works.

Computers often can't quite represent an exact value anyway, so returning a result of divide by zero as a really-big-number is just fine.

26 posted on 12/08/2006 12:34:23 PM PST by narby
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
"Imagine you're landing on an aeroplane and the automatic pilot's working," he suggests. "If it divides by zero and the computer stops working - you're in big trouble. If your heart pacemaker divides by zero, you're dead."

Unless your code has...oh, I don't know...EXCEPTION HANDLING?!

What a waste of education.

27 posted on 12/08/2006 12:34:38 PM PST by Slings and Arrows ("Nancy [Pelosi] was voted the Number one reason why men in San Francisco are homosexuals."-Wikiality)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

Actually, doesn't dividing by zero yield an infinite value?


28 posted on 12/08/2006 12:34:58 PM PST by Ingtar (Prensa dos para el ingles)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IYAAYAS

I'll buy all of that up to the point of saying it's real. IIRC, it is explicitly designated as imaginary.


29 posted on 12/08/2006 12:35:33 PM PST by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
To get a woman it takes Time and Money:

Women = Time x Money

And Time is Money and Money is Time

So: Women = Money x Money = Money^2

And Money is the root of all Evil

Money = SQRT(Evil)

So: Women = (SQRT(Evil))2

Or

Women = Evil (mathematically proven)
30 posted on 12/08/2006 12:35:45 PM PST by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
a brand new theory that dividing by zero is possible

However, Grabel's law still prevails; 2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2.

31 posted on 12/08/2006 12:36:00 PM PST by MosesKnows
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ingtar

I learned in school that dividing by zero gives a result of "undefined."


32 posted on 12/08/2006 12:36:58 PM PST by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

Idiots. They haven't solved the problem. They have just said that invalid results in math are acceptable.

Division means "how many of this number are in this other number". So dividing 5 into 10 means "how many 5's are in 10?"
2.

Saying "how many zeros are in this other number" is a meaningless phrase.


33 posted on 12/08/2006 12:37:56 PM PST by Leftism is Mentally Deranged (liberalism = brain cell deficiency)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

I think this guy is just a LIBERAL(well he would be liberal just for the fact that he is in a classromm). Anytime someone tries to justify wacko-ism or any sort of perversion..you know what that means.


34 posted on 12/08/2006 12:39:24 PM PST by HarmlessLovableFuzzball (,)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Makes absolutely no sense to me. Never cared for the "extra" math, and I never will.


35 posted on 12/08/2006 12:39:34 PM PST by wastedyears ("By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." - Benjamin Franklin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: quikdrw

The Only Funny Joan Rivers Joke:

"I know a guy who's so stupid, he can't count to 21 unless he's naked."


36 posted on 12/08/2006 12:40:53 PM PST by paulat (about)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: narby

It makes no sense in any universe. All he has done is give infinity a different name. Any of us could do the same. If you think it's so useful in the "computer universe", how are you going to represent this number "nullity" in that universe? What sequence of binary digits will you use?


37 posted on 12/08/2006 12:41:10 PM PST by vrwc1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

We already have Nullity on the Internet and its value is 404. Can also be recognized by the symbol DU.


38 posted on 12/08/2006 12:41:28 PM PST by NonValueAdded (Prayers for our patriot brother, 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub. Brian, we're all pulling for you!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Glenn
2 + 2 = 5 for certain values of 2.

those certain values being what the government tells you they are.
39 posted on 12/08/2006 12:41:31 PM PST by absolootezer0 (stop repeat offenders - don't re-elect them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: wastedyears

Math was not my strong point. Got into an argument in 3rd or 4th grade with my teacher about multiplication. She always used apples and oranges when explaining math. She told me that multiplying any number by zero is and always will be zero. I asked her if I had an apple in my hand and she multiplied it by 0, would it not be 1 since I still held the apple?


40 posted on 12/08/2006 12:42:07 PM PST by GYPSY286 (Politicians must USE their heads or Americans will LOSE their heads.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 321-333 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson