if 0*0=0, why can’t you divide 0 by 0 (the square root of 0) and get 0 (the square root of 0)?

Question

ditto for cube root, nth root, etc.

In: 5

Answer 1

We want things to have a single definitive correct answer, so I can say:

x + 2 = 4

and the only right answer for “x” is “2”. “4 – 2 = 2”, that’s it, that’s the answer. We know because we can plug it back in as “x” and get the right result.

But while 0*0=0, we also have 0*1=0 and 0*2=0 and 0*1234567890=0.

So there’s no way to have a single right answer for 0/0, because when we get to “x * 0 = 0”,
any value can be plugged in for “x” and we get the right result.