In the history of mathematics there were several times when mathematicians encounter problems that they didn't know what to make of

It wasn't a case of a problem with a very difficult solution so much as it was a problem that didn't seem to make any sense

In one such case, the resolution of the problem led to an entirely new branch of mathematics.

Learn more about imaginary numbers, aka complex numbers,

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Book your ticket to happiness with Sun Express Airlines. airlines. There are certain things in mathematics that go beyond the realm of hard problems. There's any number of

these type which are given at elite mathematics competitions which are difficult to

solve but solvable. Then there are other problems that are more philosophical in nature.

Take for example dividing by zero.

Most of you know that you can't divide by zero.

When the number of zero was created by ancient Indian mathematicians they were able to create rules for

using zero in normal mathematical operations.

You could easily add subtract and multiply by zero.

But when they tried to divide by zero, it didn't make any sense.

Some of the first Indian mathematicians to encounter this problem said that dividing by

zero equaled zero. Other mathematicians said that dividing a number by zero didn't change the number.

Neither group, it turns out, was right.

The answer is that you just can't divide by zero.

It can't be done. It doesn't even make sense.

Take for example, six divided by zero. For this to make sense there must be some

number that you can multiply by 0 to make 6. The problem is that there is no number

you can multiply by 0 to make six because any number

multiplied by zero is zero. Likewise, zero divided by zero is also impossible

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