Thinking Mathematically (6th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321867327
ISBN 13: 978-0-32186-732-2

Chapter 5 - Number Theory and the Real Number System - 5.2 The Integers; Order of Operations - Exercise Set 5.2 - Page 271: 143

Answer

$\frac{0}{4}$ = 0 and. \frac{4}{0}$ is undefined

Work Step by Step

In the first fraction $\frac{0}{4}$ =0 because when we have 0 objects and 4 people, if the objects need to be divided between the people, then each person gets 0 objects, since there wasn’t anything to divide up. The second fraction $\frac{4}{0}$ is like having 4 objects to divide between no people. Since there is no way to divide up 4 things between 0 people, the operation as written is undefined.
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