| Here's a riddle. | ||
| What's the difference between: | ||
|
|
||
|
NOTHING! |
||
| They both mean the same thing! | ||
|
|
||
| Sometimes when we do math, | ||
| we will say "Take 8 and divide it by 2." | ||
| It might be easier with some problems | ||
| to write it like this: | ||
|
|
||
| And other problems might be easier to do like this: | ||
|
|
||
| Either way, we will get to the same answer. | ||
| Most of the time, when we divide some number, | ||
| what we get is different from what we started with: | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
BUT ... |
||
| There is one time that when we divide that doesn't happen. | ||
| Sometimes we end up with the same number we had to start. | ||
| That happens when we divide by 1: | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
| OK, Great, Swell ... | ||
| So what? | ||
| The so what is that we can change any number | ||
| to a fraction with a 1 on the bottom anytime we want. | ||
| It doesn't change ANYTHING! | ||
|
|
||
| Swell, | ||
| There is one kind of division that we can't do. | ||
| We can't divide ANYTHING by ZERO! | ||
|
|
||
| Don't try it. | ||
| It makes a big mess! | ||
| Some day, if you keep studying math, | ||
| you will get to a tricks that let you sneak up on stuff like this. | ||
| Until then, don't do it. | ||
|
copyright 2005 Bruce Kirkpatrick |
