2007-12-13 15:59:54 · 6 answers · asked by realchurchhistorian 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
The only thing real in the number family are the Natural numbers; whole numbers greater than 0. The rest is abstraction.
0 was first _invented_ by (either Indians, Persians or Arabs) as a place holder which allowed them to develop the number system we use today. Negative numbers as an abstract concept were recognised as early as 100 BC – 50 BC. I suspect it came about when our ancestors started to understand commerce.
2007-12-13 16:09:27 · answer #1 · answered by perplexed* 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I've had a negative balance in my bank account so I can attest that negative numbers can be real. But as some of the other guys here said, all numbers are abstract concepts. But they can be applied to real situations.
2007-12-14 01:48:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
All numbers, even natural numbers, are merely ideas invented by humans to describe quantity. Even the natural numbers are as imaginary as imaginary numbers (square roots of negative numbers). It is just that each number system has different applications. The natural numbers can be used to quantify discrete objects; they are simply a consequence of using the Peano Axioms (look it up on Wikipedia).
Then it became necessary to expand to a number system that can describe ratios, and hence fractions are born.
When it came to discerning between a gain and a loss, negative numbers were deduced.
Then the real numbers were deduced to "complete" the real number line.
Complex numbers are then used in electronics.
But all numbers are really just ideas. Ideas we use to describe the world around us in a precise, quantitative manner.
2007-12-14 00:49:58 · answer #3 · answered by J Bareil 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Zero is a sign for the reality and existence of nothing
Negative numbers are subtractionsbut "below" nothing they are abstractions
2007-12-14 19:10:15 · answer #4 · answered by James O 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In some sense, all numbers are abstract.
That said, I think zero is in some sense 'natural' in a way that negative numbers are not. Specifically, if you take 10 apples, out of a basket of 10 apples, there are zero apples left. You can't take 15 apples out of a basket of 10 apples, so -5 doesn't "count" something in any simple way, while I think zero does count something.
2007-12-14 00:08:21 · answer #5 · answered by thomasoa 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is a real concept :-)
2007-12-14 00:04:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋