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Positive numbers: Real numbers that are greater than zero. 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 ...
[12] [13] Only positive integers were considered, making the term synonymous with the natural numbers. The definition of integer expanded over time to include negative numbers as their usefulness was recognized. [14] For example Leonhard Euler in his 1765 Elements of Algebra defined integers to include both positive and negative numbers. [15]
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]
The natural numbers form a subset of the integers. As there is no common standard for the inclusion or not of zero in the natural numbers, the natural numbers without zero are commonly referred to as positive integers, and the natural numbers with zero are referred to as non-negative integers.
A list of articles about numbers (not about numerals). Topics include powers of ten, notable integers, prime and cardinal numbers, and the myriad system.
In computing, signedness is a property of data types representing numbers in computer programs. A numeric variable is signed if it can represent both positive and negative numbers, and unsigned if it can only represent non-negative numbers (zero or positive numbers).
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. When 0 is said to be both positive and negative, [citation needed] modified phrases are used to refer to the sign of a number: A number is strictly positive if it is greater than zero.
The laws of arithmetic for negative numbers ensure that the common-sense idea of an opposite is reflected in arithmetic. For example, − (−3) = 3 because the opposite of an opposite is the original value. Negative numbers are usually written with a minus sign in front. For example, −3 represents a negative quantity with a magnitude of ...