2006-06-16 02:19:34 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
Zero is such a complicated number. If you look at the way numbers are sequenced -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. it would appear to be even. There is a problem, however. Zero came from the Arabic Hindu system and was considered a placeholder.
Zero is used as a place holder. Numbering systems start with #1 and progress to 9. 1 starts over in the tens position and is followed by the placeholder 0 so we know one is in the tens position and not the single unit position. The same is so for 20 and 30 and so on and so forth. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, so on and so forth.
Now back to the numbering sequence -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3. Zero is a placeholder and is neither odd or even. It is a null value. You have heard of zip, zilch, nada? That is zero.
Zero was brought to the West by a mathematician named Fibonacci some time in the 1200s. It made numbers a lot easier to write. Most numbers were written with a space where a zero would go today. Made for lots of problems. The numbers could only be understood in the context of the writing and could never be used by themselves. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2 21 22 23 etc. These are writen in sequence so you know the 2nd 1 is really a ten. But standing alone, it still looks like 1.
The computer age really stirred the pot. Programing in the binary system put 0 before 1. Auuuuuuuuuugh! as Charlie Brown would say. The computer needed continuity in the old on/off programing in binary language. When 0 followed 1 the computer wouldn't compute.
When people count, it is assumed that zero (or nothing) comes first before we have something (1). But we couldn't use it as a placeholder, because one is a single unit. There is nothing to hold a place for. 10 is another situation. Zero is holding an empty unit spot.
You can have the shovel now, I think I've dug a deep enough hole. (0) Chuckle.
2006-06-29 18:08:23 · answer #1 · answered by Ding-Ding 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Zero is a rather important number. As many have mentioned, it is used for higher numbers. It is used to denote a lack of something. It is also used in all kinds of math. Any number multiplied by zero is zero. Any number to the power of zero is one. Zero has some amazing abilities. Perhaps when you get a little older you'll notice just how powerful zero can be.
2006-06-16 02:30:25 · answer #2 · answered by antisocial1981 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quick answer - Yes. Longer answer - scientists aren't fools, and they are well aware of the questions you raise! Certainly the further away things are the longer it has taken light to reach us, so we see them as they were many years ago, in some cases a small fraction of the present age of the universe. So you are right on that score. But except for very distant objects the effect is not large. The local density of galaxies depends on local perturbations. For instance we are part of a galaxy group which includes the famous Andromeda nebula, and quite a number of others too. There are also places where the large scale density is very low and there are very few galaxies. Look up the large scale structure of the universe. Edit: Dark matter was not known for so long simply because it was just that. 'Dark' in the sense that it could not be observed. Even now we know about it only because gravitational measurements require the mass of the universe to be much greater than we observe it to be. We can speculate on what this matter may be, but we really don't know.
2016-03-27 05:30:32 · answer #3 · answered by Lisa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a number in the REAL list of numbers, which include all possible numbers you can think of. In the NATURAL numbers however you would only include 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, numbers you would count with.
2006-06-16 02:26:44 · answer #4 · answered by sorry2disappoint 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure it is a number! If there wasn't a zero, then how would you know that the first nuber that you should start counting with is one(1)?
2006-06-16 02:25:55 · answer #5 · answered by Jeffrey 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the only numbering system where zero is not used.. hmmm.. I think.. is in Roman Numerals... would you like to do math in those? Yuck!
zero ... is the first number... when you asked your question.. you had zero answers first.. then you had one... etc...
2006-06-28 05:20:53 · answer #6 · answered by ♥Tom♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it's number. Without zero, math calculations would have been very difficult.
2006-06-16 02:23:09 · answer #7 · answered by Halo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
of course it's a number! all are called numbers that start with zero
2006-06-16 02:23:52 · answer #8 · answered by nic 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes zero is a number and it is used---10-20-30 etc.
2006-06-16 02:23:33 · answer #9 · answered by Rebecca T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you mean it is never used? When I looked at your question it said you had zero answers so I decided to answer it.
2006-06-16 02:23:29 · answer #10 · answered by Believer Achiever 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋