How is 8 divided 0 different from 0 divided by 8?

Answer 1

Division tells you how many times you need to subtract the divisor from the dividend to get 0 - the division is "dividend divided by divisor" and is written mathematically as:

dividend ÷ divisor

The division can also be expressed as "divisor divided into dividend" which is written like a bus shelter:

...........-----------

divisor | dividend

In 8 divided by 0, 8 is the dividend and 0 is the divisor, but no matter how many times you subtract 0 from 8, you will never get to 0. 8 ÷ 0 has no answer (can be thought of as impossible, though it is often thought of as having the answer infinite).

In 0 divided by 8, 0 is the dividend and 8 is the divisor, but as the dividend is already 0, you do not need to subtract the divisor at all. 8 ÷ 0 = 0.

The difference is one has no answer/is impossible/is infinite and the other is 0.