Search All of the Math Forum:
Views expressed in these public forums are not endorsed by
Drexel University or The Math Forum.
|
|
|
|
Re: Whole, Natural, & Counting Numbers?
Posted:
Oct 1, 2001 9:10 PM
|
|
"C. McGinnis" wrote:
>
> The Natural ( or Counting ) Numbers are the first numbers you learn. They
> are sometimes called the counting numbers because they are the numbers you
> count with. I.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
That's good. The terminology is rooted in the experience.
>
> The Whole Numbers includes all of the Natural numbers with the addition of
> 0.
This is more or less correct. But, for example, The Harper Collins Dictionary
of Mathematics says this:
whole number, another term for a NATURAL NUMBER, usually including zero. Usage,
however, varies, and the term may be used for all INTEGERS, or only positive
integers.
> Zero is not a Natural Number because it is not a counting number,
This is, by your definition, a tautology.
> and infact
> was developed at a later time.
This is less important and, in fact, is not a part of the definition at all.
Historywise, the ancients did not think 1 is a number either, for the very
reason you mention. There's no reason to count a single object. But this
is true that zero is a late invention.
> (Or so they say.) You don't count to 3
> saying 0, 1, 2, 3.
But you do count backwards: 3, 2, 1, go.
There's also a ground zero. The floors are very often counted
as ground, first, second, etc.
> I hope this clears it up for you.
Alexander Bogomolny,
http://www.cut-the-knot.com
--
submissions: post to k12.ed.math or e-mail to k12math@sd28.bc.ca
private e-mail to the k12.ed.math moderator: kem-moderator@thinkspot.net
newsgroup website: http://www.thinkspot.net/k12math/
newsgroup charter: http://www.thinkspot.net/k12math/charter.html
|
|
|
|
