Zero
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Zero is a special number. If there are zero objects, there are not any objects. There are none.
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[edit] Example
John has zero hats. John has no hat. John does not have a hat.
[edit] Symbol
The symbol for the number zero is "0".
[edit] Arithmetic with Zero
Zero is a special number because it is the only number for which these are true:
- Any number plus zero is not changed. For example, if zero is added to three, the answer is three. In symbols:
3 + 0 = 3
- Any number times zero is zero. For example, if the number 43 is multiplied by zero, the answer is zero. In symbols:
43 x 0 = 0
- It is against the rules of simple arithmetic to divide by zero. For example, it is not allowed to divide a number eleven by zero.
[edit] History
The number zero might have come from India.
[edit] Less Simple
The number zero is not a positive number. The number zero is not a negative number. The number zero is a whole number. The number zero is not usually an ordinal number[1] The number zero is an even number. Any number divided by itself yields a quotient of one, except if that number is zero. In symbols:
0 ÷ 0 = "not a number."
When measuring time, zero means "now'. For example, John is counting the time to an event. John counts "...,T minus 3, T minus 2, T minus 1, T minus 0". The time "T minus 0" is the same as the time of the event. If John is counting the time since an event, John counts "T plus 1, T plus 2, T plus 3,..."
[edit] References
- ↑ 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are ordinal numbers.