Yes. In some cases, "Undefined" is the best answer to the question. Remember that your operation (exponentation, or the 'power' of a number) is under the 'Rules', called axioms, of the field of Real Numbers. Your question has an infinity, which is not a real number, so it's not a surprise that things don't work out into a normal answer. In some cases, problems with infinity can be better understood through limits. An expression like "1 / infinity" is also undefined, but the limit (as x approaches positive infinity) of 1 / x is equal to zero. But in this case, there isn't even a limit: there is no amount or number that (-1) ^ infinity "converges to". Answer from CatOfGrey on reddit.com
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-1-infinity-3
What is 1/infinity? - Quora
Answer (1 of 49): Usually, \frac{1}{\infty} is nonsensical, because \infty is not a number; it's a symbol used in limits to mean “without limit”, and doesn't really have meaning outside the concept of limits. However, there is the case of the Riemann sphere, which extends the Complex Numbers by ...
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Mathway
mathway.com › popular-problems › Precalculus › 484862
Simplify 1/infinity | Mathway
Simplify 1/infinity · Step 1 · Anything finite divided by infinity is zero. Please ensure that your password is at least 8 characters and contains each of the following: a number ·
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Math Central
mathcentral.uregina.ca › qq › database › qq.02.06 › evan1.html
1/infinity and 1/0
Question: I was thinking the other day when i was in math class that when you divide 1 by say n you'll get 1/n. As the value of n increases the smaller the number you get. So if you divide 1/infinity would that equal zero? And if that is true then would 1/0=infinity be true also · Your observation ...
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Story of Mathematics
storyofmathematics.com › 1-infinity
Solving 1 Divided by Infinity - The Story of Mathematics - A History of Mathematical Thought from Ancient Times to the Modern Day
March 21, 2023 - Solving $1/\infty$ is the same as solving for the limit of $1/x$ as $x$ approaches infinity, so using the definition of limit, 1 divided by infinity is equal to $0$. Now, we want to know the answer when we divide 1 by infinity, denoted as $1/\infty$, which we know does not exist since there exists no number that is largest among all.
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Quora
quora.com › Is-1-infinity-equal-to-0
Is 1/infinity equal to 0? - Quora
Answer (1 of 93): Not immediately, no. It is equal to an unknown, infinitesimally decimated integer, the resolution and granularity of which depend upon the context and concepts involved. That said, zero doesn't mean, “nothing”, it means, “none”, which means, “not one”. So zero ...
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9

What is, or is not, is merely a matter of definition. Normally, one would only define for some specific class of pairs of - say - positive integer, - real number.

When extending the definition of exponentiation to more general pairs, the key thing people keep in mind is that various nice properties are preserved. For instance, for - positive integer, you want to put so that the rule is preserved.

It may make sense in some context to speak of infinities in the context of limits, but this is usually more a rule of thumb than rigorous mathematics. This may be seen as extending the rule that is continuous (i.e. if and , then ) to allow for . For instance, you may risk saying that: If you agree to use rules of this kind, you might be tempted to also say: but this would lead you astray, since in reality: Thus, it is safer to leave undefined.


A more thorough discussion can be found on Wikipedia.

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7

When your teacher talks about or or he/she's not talking about numbers, but about functions, more precisely about limits of functions.

It's just a convenient expression, but it should not be confused with computations on simple numbers (which isn't, by the way).

When is referred to, it is to mean the following situation: there are two functions and defined in a neighborhood of , with the properties

  1. (or )

(of course, can also be or ).

Saying that is an indeterminate form is just a mnemonic way to say that you cannot compute

just by saying “the base goes to , so the limit is because ”. Indeed this can be grossly wrong as the fundamental example

shows.

Why is that? It's easy if you always write as and compute the limit of , then applying the properties of the exponential function.

In the case above we'd have

  1. (or )

so the limit

is in the other indeterminate form (that you should know). Why is it “indeterminate”? Because we have many instances of that form where the limit is not predictable by simply doing a (nonsense) multiplication:

\begin{gather} \lim_{x\to 0+}x\cdot\frac{1}{x}=1\\ \lim_{x\to 0+}x^2\cdot\frac{1}{x}=0\\ \lim_{x\to 0+}x\cdot\frac{1}{x^2}=\infty \end{gather}

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Study.com
study.com › courses › math courses › math 104: calculus
Solving 1 Divided by Infinity - Lesson | Study.com
August 25, 2020 - Just as we expected, the graph approaches the line y = 0, but never actually touches it. The graph of 1/x has a horizontal asymptote of y = 0. We can observe that the limit of 1/x, as x approaches infinity, is 0 by looking at its graph and ...
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Web2.0calc
web2.0calc.com › questions › what-is-infinity-divided-by-infinity-1
View question - what is infinity divided by (infinity - 1)?
Infinity/infinity or even infinity/(infinity - 1) is an indeterminate quantity and can be equal to anything between zero and infinity, without further information you just don't know, that's why it's called indeterminate.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/mathematics › confused about 1/infinity
r/mathematics on Reddit: Confused about 1/infinity
June 11, 2023 - If you are working with the real numbers then 1/∞ isn't a meaningful statement since ∞ isn't a value. If you are talking about a limit of the reciprocal of a function that is approaching infinity then, yes, that limit would be 0.
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Brilliant
brilliant.org › wiki › is-fracinftyinfty1
Is Infinity / Infinity = 1? | Brilliant Math & Science Wiki
Reply: You are cross multiplying, but it is not legitimate here. Let's multiply both sides with \(\ \infty\). We get \(\infty\times\frac{\infty}{\infty}\neq 1\times\infty\). Then you assumed that the infinities would cancel out to one, but remember they are not 1.
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Physics Forums
physicsforums.com › mathematics › general math
What Does 1 Divided by Infinity Equal? • Physics Forums
March 27, 2003 - Most agree that in the extended real number system, 1/infinity is conventionally defined as zero, while others argue that it represents an infinitesimal, a value infinitely close to zero but not zero itself.
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Chess.com
chess.com › forum › view › off-topic › what-is-1-infinity-1
What is 1/Infinity? - Chess Forums - Chess.com
November 17, 2023 - Infinity is not a number , it just represents uncountability. It is a concept. So normal numerical algebra cannot be applied to it. So 1/infinity is not 0, It is undefined.
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Superprof
superprof.co.uk › resources › academic › maths › calculus › limits › one to the power of infinity
One to the Power of Infinity
Infinity is not a number—it’s a concept. When you see something like , it usually comes from a limit where the base is approaching 1 while the exponent is growing without bound.
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Learn ZOE
learnzoe.com › home › what is 1 infinity in math?
What is 1 Infinity in Math? | Learn ZOE
July 11, 2024 - In set theory, this isn’t just speculation; it’s a fundamental truth. The set of natural numbers is infinitely large, but it’s only the tip of the infinite iceberg. Imagine listing all the natural numbers between 0 and 1 – it’s impossible because they are not countable.
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Wolfram|Alpha
wolframalpha.com › input
1/infinity - Wolfram|Alpha
Compute answers using Wolfram's breakthrough technology & knowledgebase, relied on by millions of students & professionals. For math, science, nutrition, history, geography, engineering, mathematics, linguistics, sports, finance, music…
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How to Solve 1^Infinity Indeterminate Form Limits | Calculus 1 Exercises - YouTube
We introduce two methods for evaluating indeterminate limits of the form 1^∞ (or 1^inf, if you prefer). The first method involves taking natural logs, and th...
Published   May 16, 2023
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Infinity_plus_one
Infinity plus one - Wikipedia
October 21, 2025 - In mathematics, infinity plus one is a concept which has a well-defined formal meaning in some number systems, and may refer to: infinityplusone, New Zealand maths teacher and YouTuber · Transfinite numbers, numbers that are larger than all the finite numbers.