Is zero a number?

[mvansand76]

I feel sorry for zero.





























1991

[Kelda]

YOu gotta post the extra nine tonight Mel!!! 9-0 = 9 keep posting!!!

[mvansand76]

YOu gotta post the extra nine tonight Mel!!! 9-0 = 9 keep posting!!!

I will, I will..... 

1993

[ifyoucantfixit]

       The dictionary defines Zero:   One less than one.

[ifyoucantfixit]

           You have 1993 posts Mel?  Wow isnt that interesting.  Are you sure?  Maybe you should check again.??
                                                           

[David In Indy]

Zero is a count of the elements in a completely empty set: nothing. You can add zero to any number and you get that number. You can add, subtract, and multiply by zero, but you are not allowed to divide by zero.

Zero is a number.

Example Question:

"Shasta--how many times have you kissed Jake Gyllenhaal?"

"I have kissed Jake Gyllenhaal exactly zero times. I am hoping to add to that however."

I'm on the side of "it IS a number". How will we know? If more people say it is a number, then it is; if more people say it isn't a number, then it isn't??  

Now, do ya'll think "clear" is a color?  

I still don't understand. 

And NO! Clear is NOT a color Shasta! You can see right through it! 

[opinionista]

Zero is a cardinal number. Just like 1,2, 3 etc.

[David In Indy]

Zero is a count of the elements in a completely empty set: nothing. You can add zero to any number and you get that number. You can add, subtract, and multiply by zero, but you are not allowed to divide by zero.

Zero is a number.

Example Question:

"Shasta--how many times have you kissed Jake Gyllenhaal?"

"I have kissed Jake Gyllenhaal exactly zero times. I am hoping to add to that however."

I'm on the side of "it IS a number". How will we know? If more people say it is a number, then it is; if more people say it isn't a number, then it isn't??  

Now, do ya'll think "clear" is a color?  

And Shasta, how could you have kissed Jake EXACTLY zero times. There is no "exactly" because there was no kiss. Wouldn't it be better to say "I've NEVER kissed Jake (although don't we all wish we had.... or could.... or will!) 

Somebody please explain this to me! Zero is nothing. It doesn't exist. It isn't there. So how can we measure it? Obviously we do, because zero exists... the WORD zero exists. But zero itself doesn't exist. But the concept exists, so maybe that's what we are measuring; the concept of "nothingness". But we also measure negative nothings too, like -5 or -100. How is that possible? How can something be LESS than nothing? Or is this another "concept"? But this doesn't make it a NUMBER, just ideas or perspectives, or something we create in our minds out of our imaginations. We can imagine nothing, but this doesn't make nothing exist or become a quantity, does it?

Or maybe it's just me. Here in the Midwest we have to see it to acknowledge it. If we can't see it, smell it,  feel it, etc.  it isn't there. So zero isn't there. But I doubt Midwesterners are all THAT different from other people. I have been known to say things like "I have ZERO tolerance" for something or another. So, I am guilty of believing in and using zero in my speech and thoughts. But this doesn't mean I understand how.....

Lord, now I'm REALLY confused! 

[David In Indy]

  

Nobody wants to explain it to me? Did you all just give up? 

  


Seriously, what do the rest of you think? Is zero (nothing) a number?

[moremojo]

I've always been lousy at math, but yes, I've gotta go with zero being a number. My immediate thought was: If you can have negative numbers (and mathematicians use those), then surely zero must be included. Unfortunately, I don't have the dictionary definition of 'number' before me. But Scott above is obviously pretty knowledgeable in this area, and he says it's a number, so I defer to his judgment.

By the way, the ancient Maya also developed the concept of zero. They called it something else, of course, and it looked different from the Arabic (actually Indian) numeral, but the mathematical concept was the same, and with it, the Maya were able to make extraordinary (and extraordinarily precise) measurements and calculations.