The other comments are correct: is undefined. Similarly, the limit of as approaches is also undefined. However, if you take the limit of as approaches zero from the left or from the right, you get negative and positive infinity respectively.

Answer from Ethan Brown on Stack Exchange
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnmath › why do we say 1/0=undefined instead of 1/0=infinity?
r/learnmath on Reddit: Why do we say 1/0=undefined instead of 1/0=infinity?
October 24, 2020 -

Like 10/2- imagine a 10 square foot box, saying 10 divided by 2 is like saying “how many 2 square foot boxes fit in this 10 square foot box?” So the answer is 5.

But if you take the same box and ask “how many boxes that are infinitely small, or zero feet squared, can fit in the same box the answer would be infinity not “undefined”. So 10/0=infinity.

I understand why 2/0 can’t be 0 not only because that doesn’t make and since but also because it could cause terrible contradictions like 1=2 and such.

Ah math is so cool. I love infinity so if anyone wants to talk about it drop a comment.

Edit: thanks everyone so much for the answers. Keep leaving comments though because I’m really enjoying seeing it explained in different ways. Also it doesn’t seem like anyone else has ever been confused by this judging by the comment but if anyone is I really liked this video https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra/x2f8bb11595b61c86:foundation-algebra/x2f8bb11595b61c86:division-zero/v/why-dividing-by-zero-is-undefined

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnmath › why does 1/infinity = 0 rather than 0.0 repeating leading to 1?
r/learnmath on Reddit: why does 1/infinity = 0 rather than 0.0 repeating leading to 1?
June 3, 2024 -

sorry if the question doesnt make sense i havent been invested in math theory for long as ive only taken alg 2 and minor precalc but why is it that one over infinity equals zero rather than an infinitely small finite number? from my thoughts i feel as if it cant be zero because if you have anumerator there is a value no matter the size of a denominator, almost like an asymptotic relationship with the value reaching closer to zero but never hitting it. i understand zero is a concept so you cant operate with it so you cant exactly create a proof algebraicly but then how could you know it equals zero? just need second thoughts as its a comment debate between me and my brother. many thanks!

edit: my bad i wasnt very misunderstood on alot of things and the question was pretty dumb in hindsight, my apologies

Top answer
1 of 35
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If the zeros are repeating there is no end, therefore there is no 1 at the end because there is no end to begin with
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Part of the problem is that 1/infinity is actually very hard to define, because "let's treat infinity as a number!" usually leads to strange situations. Like for example, what's infinity + 1? Is it still infinity? Does that mean, if we "subtract infinity" from both sides, that 1 = 0? What is infinity - infinity, anyway? One way people get around this is to use limits. Say, instead of 1 / infinity, you have 1/x. This is a function. Then we might (depending on the function) be able to ask, "what happens as we keep increasing the value of x?" People phrase this sometimes as "what happens when x 'goes to infinity'?", but what they really mean is, "what happens when we make x an arbitrarily large number, and then an even larger one, and so on?" Then people ask, "as x gets larger and larger, does the value of 1/x approach anything in particular? Does it become closer and closer to some exact value? Does it converge?" Answering this kind of question is actually much more doable than trying to figure out "what is 1 / infinity?" because, instead of having to figure out how to do division by infinity (something which does not really have a concrete definition), we're just dealing with a finite number, x. To answer the question though, what we see as x gets bigger and bigger is that 1/x does actually converge on one specific value! That value is 0. Note that 1/x is never actually equal to 0 — it just approaches it. It gets closer, and closer, and closer. People do sometimes write this as "1 / infinity = 0". But I think it would be fair to say that, when people write it this way, that can be... very misleading, depending on the reader.
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Quora
quora.com › Why-do-some-people-say-that-1-0-is-undefined-while-other-people-say-it-is-infinity-Which-side-of-this-endless-debate-is-right
Why do some people say that 1/0 is undefined while other people say it is infinity? Which side of this endless debate is right? - Quora
If you’re talking about the closed complex numbers, or the wheel of reals, 1/0 is infinity. (In fact, the closed complex numbers just are the complex numbers, extended by adding ∞ = 1/0 as an extra number.)
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Medium
prabhatmahato.medium.com › why-is-any-number-over-0-undefined-or-what-we-say-infinity-5318dc5b0153
Why is any number over 0 undefined or what we say infinity? | by Prabhat Mahato | Medium
March 31, 2023 - 2/1=2, 2/0.1=20, 2/0.01=200, 2/0.001=2000, 2/0.0001=20000 Same as previous, the value goes on increasing. And on dividing 2 by 0, we get infinity i.e., 2/0=∞ · Doesn’t it seem like a bit unconvincing that 1 over 0 and 2 over 0 both are equal to infinity (∞)? So, from the above results, 1/0=2/0 and from the basic mathematics rule we can write 1=2 which is mathematically and logically incorrect.
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Physics Forums
physicsforums.com › mathematics › general math
Disputing 1 / 0 = Infinity: Agree or Disagree? • Physics Forums
January 11, 2024 - Blog Insight: Division by zero ... As it stands 1/0 is "undefined". "Approach" is used when talking about 1/x, as x -> 0. However strict pedantry requires one to say "becomes infinite" rather than "approaches infinity".
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Division_by_zero
Division by zero - Wikipedia
1 week ago - Since any number multiplied by 0 is 0, the expression ⁠ ... Calculus studies the behavior of functions in the limit as their input tends to some value. When a real function can be expressed as a fraction whose denominator tends to zero, the output of the function becomes arbitrarily large, and is said to "tend to infinity", a type of mathematical singularity.
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
1/0 = infinite is explained | Breaking the rules of Mathematics. - YouTube
Have you ever wondered why 1 divided by 0 equals infinity? In this video, we will explain the reasoning behind this common mathematical phenomenon.In general...
Published   March 19, 2023
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Quora
quora.com › Is-1-0-infinity
Is 1/0 infinity? - Quora
Answer (1 of 266): Technically, it is undefined. However, if one were to take the limit of 1/x as x approaches 0 from the positive end, it would tend to positive infinity. Going from the negative end, it would be negative infinity.
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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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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Indeterminate_form
Indeterminate form - Wikipedia
December 30, 2025 - {\displaystyle {\frac {0}{0}},~{\frac {\infty }{\infty }},~0\times \infty ,~\infty -\infty ,~0^{0},~1^{\infty },{\text{ or }}\infty ^{0},} among a wide variety of uncommon others, where each expression stands for the limit of a function constructed by an arithmetical combination of two functions whose limits respectively tend to ⁠ ... A limit taking one of these indeterminate forms might tend to zero, might tend to any finite value, might tend to infinity, or might diverge, depending on the specific functions involved.
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Free Math Help Forum
freemathhelp.com › forums › free math help › advanced math
Infinity: Are 1/0 and 2/0 same or we have different infinities ? | Free Math Help Forum
May 16, 2016 - We know that anything divided by 0 is infinity. eg. 1/0 = ∞ , since, if you were to divide 1 into zero pieces, you would need to divide an infinite number of times. similarly2/0 = ∞ . So, 1. Are 1/0 and 2/0 same or we have different infinities ? 2. 2/0-1/0 = 1/0 , so we still have infinity...
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The Hindu
thehindu.com › opinion › letters › infinity-undefined › article3863329.ece
Infinity & undefined - The Hindu
September 5, 2012 - Thus 1/0 is not infinity and 0/0 is not indeterminate, since division by zero is not defined.
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The Philosophy Forum
thephilosophyforum.com › discussion › 9651 › zero-infinity
Zero & Infinity - The Philosophy Forum
Infinity, in math, is a quantity that has no upper limit...it gets bigger and bigger without end. An example of a mathematical infinity is the set of natural numbers = {1, 2, 3,...}. it's perfectly ok to say "nothing is bigger than infinity". Another way of saying that is 0 > infinity.
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Math Forums
mathforums.com › home › mathematics › general math
1/0=Infinity and Negative Infinity. Change My Mind. | Math Forums
October 22, 2023 - On a graph, f(1/x) creates a hyperbola where as x approaches infinity and negative infinity, it gets closer to y=0. Therefore, 1/0 is equal to ∞ and -∞. Click to expand... It might be easier to leave the understanding at, what you stated, ...
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Physics Forums
physicsforums.com › mathematics › calculus
Why 1 / ∞ = 0 but ∞ * 0 is not equal to 1? • Physics Forums
December 20, 2021 - ... As we know those relations are true: if a/b = c, then a = b*c and b = a/c Therefore if 1/ ∞ = 0, ∞ * 0 should be equal to 1 and 1/0 = ∞ ... Division by zero or by infinity is undefined because they lead to mathematical inconsistencies ...
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Medium
medium.com › @marktdodds › the-perplexity-of-infinity-and-zero-309f6bd07573
∞⁰ = ∞, 1, or undefined. Which is it? | by Mark Dodds | Medium
September 8, 2018 - ∞⁰ = ∞, 1, or undefined. Which is it? A couple days ago I wrote an article about the Ramanujan Summation, which to cut a long story short is a mathematical series that looks something like …