Why is it defined that way?

There are numerous conventions in mathematics that student continually question. Why isn’t 1 a prime number? Why is 0! defined to be 1? Why is an empty sum 0 and an empty sum 1? Why can’t you just say 1/0 = ∞? Etc. There are good reasons for the existing conventions, and they usually boil […] The post Why is it defined that way? first appeared on John D. Cook....

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