Question

87

In JavaScript, why does zero divided by zero return NaN, but any other divided by zero return Infinity?

rated 0 times [ 93] [ 6] / answers: 1 / hits: 38241 / 11 Years ago, mon, september 16, 2013, 12:00:00

It seems to me that the code

console.log(1 / 0)

should return NaN, but instead it returns Infinity. However this code:

console.log(0 / 0)

does return NaN. Can someone help me to understand the reasoning for this functionality? Not only does it seem to be inconsistent, it also seems to be wrong, in the case of x / 0 where x !== 0

Answers

Only authorized users can answer the question. Please sign in first, or register a free account.

yosefleod

Add To Favorites

Follow

Total Points: 113

Total Questions: 100

Total Answers: 115

Location: Egypt

Member since Tue, May 3, 2022

2 Years ago

yosefleod questions

1 How to use Sign In With Google together with TokenClient?

Tue, Mar 8, 22, 00:00, 2 Years ago

1 What does the lodash get function do?

Thu, Apr 22, 21, 00:00, 3 Years ago

1 How to import .mjs modules in Jest's xyz.test.js?

Mon, Jul 27, 20, 00:00, 4 Years ago

1 Update a single property of local JSON file using put call in Angular 8

Sun, Dec 8, 19, 00:00, 5 Years ago

1 how can i check the voice channel ID that the person is after they execute a command and move to other voice channel in node.js?

Sun, Sep 29, 19, 00:00, 5 Years ago

View All

answered 11 Years ago rocioblancac · Accepted Answer

Because that's how floating-point is defined (more generally than just Javascript). See for example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating-point#Infinities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NaN#Creation

Crudely speaking, you could think of 1/0 as the limit of 1/x as x tends to zero (from the right). And 0/0 has no reasonable interpretation at all, hence NaN.