My kid asked me what the opposite of zero is, does anyone know?
Like the opposite of +1 is a -1
but what can the opposite of 0 be? It's not a negative or a positive.
2007-08-20 10:20:31 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
If by "opposite" you mean additive inverse, then zero is its own opposite. An additive inverse is that number you must add to get the identity operand. When you perform a mathematical operation - in this case, addition - with the identity operand, you will give your original operand back. For addition, the identity operand is zero. If you add anything to zero, or add zero to anything, you get your original operand back. The additive inverse for any number a is -a because adding these two numbers gives a zero (i.e., additive identity) result. The additive inverse for zero, is therefore zero because zero plus zero gives zero as a result.
There are other kinds of "opposites" though. The identity operand for multiplication, for example, is 1. Because 1 times anything or anything times 1 returns your original "anything" number. The multiplicative inverse for any number is also called its reciprocal. The multiplicative inverse for any number a (except zero) will be 1/a because a * 1/a = 1/a * a = 1, the identity.
Zero has no opposite for multiplication. If you multiply something by zero, the result will be zero. Nothing you multiply by zero will give 1 as a result. Furthermore, you can't multiply the zero you got as a result to get your original operand back. In that sense, multiplication by zero is irreversible and cannot be undone.
2007-08-20 11:10:31 · answer #1 · answered by devilsadvocate1728 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1
2016-05-18 02:29:59 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To say that the OPPOSITE of +1 is -1 means that +1 + (-1) = 0. That tells us that the opposite of 0 is a number x such that 0 + x = 0, and the clear answer is x = 0. There is nothing abstract, fuzzy, philosophical, or mysterious about this.
2007-08-20 10:55:36 · answer #3 · answered by Tony 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In mathematics it is undefined ...
If you look at it as meaning "nothing" then the opposite could be "everything" (some would say "infinity")
In programming language it means "false" and anything else means "true" ...
kind of one of those abstract things :)
be careful to explain this best you can ... as nothing is more embarrassing than trying to impress your teacher with the wrong answer ...
2007-08-20 10:32:53 · answer #4 · answered by slinkies 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i dont really know . a zero alone usualy means ''nothing'' and so the opposite of ''nothing''is EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING is usualy assosiated with infinity,so the opposite of zero is infinity. dont know if thats right ,just trying to sound resonable
2007-08-20 10:34:43 · answer #5 · answered by coldfire_blacksheep 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
zero doesnt have an opposite because its not a negative or positive.
if he is younger, the best way to explain it to him would be to tell him zero or negative zero.
i actually think both answer would be acceptable
2007-08-20 10:29:02 · answer #6 · answered by anysportzchik 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
100? 1?
Smart kid to ask such an interesting question.
2007-08-20 10:27:44 · answer #7 · answered by memememe 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You dumb mother ****** its 0
2016-11-01 09:22:00 · answer #8 · answered by Alexander 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋