January 2015 in mathematics the term undefined is often used to refer to an expression which is not assigned an interpretation or a value such as an indeterminate form which has the propensity of assuming different values.
What does undefined mean in math examples.
More precisely undefined values occur when an expression is evaluated for input values outside of its domain.
In algebra a function is said to be undefined at points not in its domain.
A good real life example of undefined slope is an elevator since an elevator can only move straight up or straight down.
Sqrt 9 if no complex numbers ln 4 if no complex numbers.
The most famous example is that division by zero is undefined.
In arithmetic some arithmetic operations are called undefined.
In plain language it means something which has no sensible meaning.
For example division by zero is undefined in the field of real numbers.
For example in the real number system is undefined for negative.
Undefined is a term used when a mathematical result has no meaning.
Think of it as the value where you end with more question marks at the end.
However something that is undefined today may be given a definition in the future.
For instance during the time when the negative numbers were not yet invented the numerical expression 5 8 has no meaning.
Ambiguous complex infinity directed infinity division by zero ill defined indeterminate well defined.
What does undefined mean.
Mathematically undefined can be defined as an expression which is impossible or an expression which does not have an exact definition or an expression that cannot be interpreted.
Undefined means there is no answer to the expression at that point.
It got its name undefined from the fact that it is impossible to divide by zero.
In our time we can say that 5 8 is undefined in the set of positive integers.
The term can take on several different meanings depending on the context.
For example in the equation ax by c the relation between x and y is indeterminate because you can t determine it without knowing the values of a b and c.
For example square root of a negative number was undefined.