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For example, −3 represents a negative quantity with a magnitude of three, and is pronounced "minus three" or "negative three". Conversely, a number that is greater than zero is called positive; zero is usually (but not always) thought of as neither positive nor negative. [2]
Negative numbers: Real numbers that are less than zero. Because zero itself has no sign, neither the positive numbers nor the negative numbers include zero. When zero is a possibility, the following terms are often used: Non-negative numbers: Real numbers that are greater than or equal to zero. Thus a non-negative number is either zero or positive.
When 0 is said to be neither positive nor negative, the following phrases may refer to the sign of a number: A number is positive if it is greater than zero. A number is negative if it is less than zero. A number is non-negative if it is greater than or equal to zero. A number is non-positive if it is less than or equal to zero.
Zero to the power of zero, denoted as 0 0, is a mathematical expression that can take different values depending on the context. In certain areas of mathematics, such as combinatorics and algebra, 0 0 is conventionally defined as 1 because this assignment simplifies many formulas and ensures consistency in operations involving exponents.
2. Denotes the additive inverse and is read as minus, the negative of, or the opposite of; for example, –2. 3. Also used in place of \ for denoting the set-theoretic complement; see \ in § Set theory. × (multiplication sign) 1. In elementary arithmetic, denotes multiplication, and is read as times; for example, 3 × 2. 2.
Starting at 0 or 1 has long been a matter of definition. In 1727, Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle wrote that his notions of distance and element led to defining the natural numbers as including or excluding 0. [23] In 1889, Giuseppe Peano used N for the positive integers and started at 1, [24] but he later changed to using N 0 and N 1. [25]
In a vector space, the additive inverse −v (often called the opposite vector of v) has the same magnitude as v and but the opposite direction. [9] In modular arithmetic, the modular additive inverse of x is the number a such that a + x ≡ 0 (mod n) and always exists. For example, the inverse of 3 modulo 11 is 8, as 3 + 8 ≡ 0 (mod 11). [10]
The division-by-zero fallacy has many variants. The following example uses a disguised division by zero to "prove" that 2 = 1, but can be modified to prove that any number equals any other number. Let a and b be equal, nonzero quantities = Multiply by a = Subtract b 2