Math Playground
Numbers

Dividing by zero

Why your calculator throws an error and what undefined really means.

Division by zero is undefined — there's no consistent number you could call the answer.

Why?

If 6/0 = x, then x · 0 = 6. But x · 0 is always 0, never 6. Contradiction — no x works.

Calculators show 'Error' or 'Undefined'. Programming languages throw exceptions or return Infinity/NaN.