Which type of error occurs when a program attempts to divide by zero?

Which type of error occurs when a program attempts to divide by zero?

• A. Syntax error
• B. Run time error
• C. Logic error
• D. Overflow error

Answer: (B)

Dividing by zero triggers a runtime error. The code runs and reaches the division operation, but the divisor is zero, which can't produce a valid numeric result, so the runtime environment raises an exception or halts execution. This is different from a syntax error, which would stop the program from even being parsed or compiled because the code doesn’t follow the language’s grammar. It’s also different from a logic error, where the algorithm runs but produces an incorrect result due to flawed reasoning rather than an illegal operation. Overflow would occur if a computed value exceeded the representable range, not if the divisor is zero. In practice, many languages report a runtime exception (like ZeroDivisionError in Python or ArithmeticException in Java) when this happens.

Dividing by zero triggers a runtime error. The code runs and reaches the division operation, but the divisor is zero, which can't produce a valid numeric result, so the runtime environment raises an exception or halts execution. This is different from a syntax error, which would stop the program from even being parsed or compiled because the code doesn’t follow the language’s grammar. It’s also different from a logic error, where the algorithm runs but produces an incorrect result due to flawed reasoning rather than an illegal operation. Overflow would occur if a computed value exceeded the representable range, not if the divisor is zero. In practice, many languages report a runtime exception (like ZeroDivisionError in Python or ArithmeticException in Java) when this happens.