Today's Algebra Books

Pick up a high school mathematics textbook today and you will see that 0⁰ is treated as an indeterminate form. For example, the following is taken from a current New York Regents text [6]:

We recall the rule for dividing powers with like bases:

xa/xb = xa-b (x not equal to 0)

(1)

If we do not require a > b, then a may be equal to b. When a = b:

xa/xb = xa/xa = xa-a  = x0

(2)

but

xa / xa = 1

(3)

Therefore, in order for x⁰ to be meaningful, we must make the following definition:

x0  = 1 (x not equal to 0)

(4)

Since the definition x⁰ = 1 is based upon division, and division by 0 is not possible, we have stated that x is not equal to 0. Actually, the expression 0⁰ (0 to the zero power) is one of several indeterminate expressions in mathematics. It is not possible to assign a value to an indeterminate expression.