SOLUTION: 6) A student says that 3 divided by 0 is 0. How do you respond?

Question 176320: 6) A student says that 3 divided by 0 is 0. How do you respond?
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Division by zero is undefined. In other words, it is NOT allowed. So is NOT allowed (where x is any number).

Why is this? First, we know that zero multiplied by ANY number is ALWAYS zero. In other words, (since 0 groups of something is nothing)
So we can easily say that 0*1=0

-----------------------------------

Now let's assume that is possible. What would be equal to? Let's say that (hypothetically of course)

Start with the faulty equation

Multiply both sides by 0 (ie move the zero in the denominator to the right side)

Multiply.

Since this equation is false, this means that is NOT true.

In general, the equation would become which would inevitably simplify to (which is again false).
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