One divided by Zero = Infinity; Reflecting on Infinitely Large and Infinitely Small Numbers

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"The concept started for me at an early age when my father explained to me that 1 divided by zero was infinity.  Most typically, this isn’t how we approach the understanding, but the logic makes sense, which goes as follows:

1 divided by 0.5 is 2.

1 divided by 0.25 is 4.

1 divided by 0.125 is 8.

1 divided by 0.01 is 100.

1 divided by 0.0001 is 10 000." Michael Rosmer

Source:  http://www.michaelrosmer.com/zero-notation-infinitely-large-small-numbers/  Accessed:  June 16, 2012.

At the above referenced web page is an essay on infinitely large and infinitely small numbers.  I enjoyed how the concepts were presented and perhaps you will, too.


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Here is a related article on division by zero which may be of interest to readers of this post. It is from the following search:  http://onlinelibrary. wiley.com/advanced/search/resultsarticleDoi=10.1002/tea.20287&scope=allContent&start=1&resultsPerPage=20

Challenging Preservice Teachers' Mathematical Understanding: The Case of Division by Zero.  SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS.  Volume 106, Issue 2, February 2006, Pages: 84–97, Sandra Crespo and Cynthia Nicol.  Article first published online : 17 MAR 2010, DOI: 10.1111/j.1949-8594.2006.tb18138.x

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