How can zero be something when zero means nothing?

Question

I dont get it!!! can someone explain???

Answer 1

Zero is a relatively recent innovation because of its association with "nothing". There is no zero, for example, in Roman numerals. Zero is a number, and numbers are mathematical concepts or ideas, as opposed to "things", so calling zero some*thing* is not really meaningful. When you use zero to *measure* real things in the physical world, like the weight of sugar or the number of jelly beans in a jar is when you get nothing. Zero pounds of sugar (a physical thing) is nothing, for example. Mathematical concepts are abstractions useful for expressing relationships like addition and multiplication, but the scribbles on paper we use to represent them are only tools to keep them organized in our mind (zero is not made of graphite). They don't have to pertain to any*thing* in particular for us to do math. There are numbers called "imaginary numbers" that are even more removed from the physical world. They are still useful for quantifying things in it, though.

Answer 2

Heh, I'm happy to say I see no really good answers in the ones already given ^_^. I'm actually studying this kind of stuff in maths, algebra 12th grade. Zero is the neutral element in the Group of real numbers.. R. How can I explain this as simple as possible.. we work with a group that has a set of rules... the group of numbers R contains whatever number you can think of .. negative or positive ..and zero. And it has two rules.. addition and multiplication. The first rule .. addition .. needs a neutral element.. so that a+0=a .. and 0+a=a ... that's how 0 is defined .. according to the rule of the group. 1 is the neutral element of multiplication ... a*1=a and 1*a=a. If the rule of addition was different ..then 0 would be defined as some other number. I'm too lazy to look in the math book and give you a good example :) just google "Abelian Group" or something like that.

Answer 3

Well with the Kelvin scale.. 0 is an absolute zero.. so there is no negative number.. only positive. So absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature, occurring when no heat energy remains in a substance. Absolute zero is the point at which molecules do not move (relative to the rest of the body) more than they are required to by a quantum mechanical effect called zero-point energy. Hope this helped some.

Answer 4

Zero is different to nothing- zero is a just a special number separating the positive and negative sets of numbers, whereas nothing is a literal absence of anything. In maths, if you multiply something by zero you have an answer (0) that makes mathematical sense and can be used to solve things. Multiplying something by nothing gives a different answer (whatever you started with) and has no mathematical representation (that I know of, anyway).

Answer 5

Mayas needed as "start point" to count groups of days or origin of things, that's why they needed to represent "nothing or empty" as one simple thing (may be a number).

Remember zero before being a number was a concept and is abstract, and everything even is nothing has to mean something.

It is a concept to make easier your life, because in stead to describe how you get nothing from something you just say "zero" in one word

Answer 6

In physics, every number has its meaning. If the sum of total force is zero, then all the forces are balanced. If the absolute temperature is zero, then there is no motion of molecules.

Answer 7

Zero is the center line of everything (as we know it) and nothing (as we know it).
As in zero plus one = 1 or zero plus one = none

Answer 8

Sometimes, especially in maths, we don't want to think of 0 as nothing, but rather as a boundary for something (for instance for positive numbers). So in those cases zero is "something".

Answer 9

Zero is the lacking of some quantity to the point there in none present.

Answer 10

you wil not know about and will not talk about zero if it is nothing therefore it is something because you know it exists.