"good try .in fact , the answer is also zero . because is zero . there cannot be a minus zero ."
"why ?"
"it's not allowd , don't ask why . just accept that the answer is zero for both sequences . but you can't have the same answer for two different number sequences . dn't ask why . you can't since you can't , we say that dividing by zero doesn't result in a number ."
mr. pell expected elliott to ask why you culdn't have two separate answers , or why the second sequence was zero when it ought to be minus zero . or he had a couple of slam -dunk sentences planned to put elliott away like " don't ask ."
bvut ellliott was way past that ." yeah . that's right . i always thought there was something strange about zero . now i undersy=tand ," he said .
"good ," job well done , mr pell's face said .
the number line must he a circle ." elliot said ." like a clock ."
"no, no ." the bell rang a gain and the next class started coming in and sitting down while mr. pell was still shaking his heasd .
"the number line is a line . by definition ." but mr. pell rubbbed his mouth and said , as if he were talking tpo himself ,".... not bad . sounds like elliott geometry ."
"what ?"
"just accept that it's a line , elliott ."
"but why ? who made it that way ? god ?" now several other kids were listening in . elliott didn't care . he needed a real answer , not an answer for a kid , an answer that worked for him , or else it might be that the nagging thought he sometimes had at night was true - that he wasn't a bright one after all , he was just the pudgy pest of the class , too stupid to understand what was obvious to mr.pell .
"why ?"
"it's not allowd , don't ask why . just accept that the answer is zero for both sequences . but you can't have the same answer for two different number sequences . dn't ask why . you can't since you can't , we say that dividing by zero doesn't result in a number ."
mr. pell expected elliott to ask why you culdn't have two separate answers , or why the second sequence was zero when it ought to be minus zero . or he had a couple of slam -dunk sentences planned to put elliott away like " don't ask ."
bvut ellliott was way past that ." yeah . that's right . i always thought there was something strange about zero . now i undersy=tand ," he said .
"good ," job well done , mr pell's face said .
the number line must he a circle ." elliot said ." like a clock ."
"no, no ." the bell rang a gain and the next class started coming in and sitting down while mr. pell was still shaking his heasd .
"the number line is a line . by definition ." but mr. pell rubbbed his mouth and said , as if he were talking tpo himself ,".... not bad . sounds like elliott geometry ."
"what ?"
"just accept that it's a line , elliott ."
"but why ? who made it that way ? god ?" now several other kids were listening in . elliott didn't care . he needed a real answer , not an answer for a kid , an answer that worked for him , or else it might be that the nagging thought he sometimes had at night was true - that he wasn't a bright one after all , he was just the pudgy pest of the class , too stupid to understand what was obvious to mr.pell .
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