Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
is zero an even or an odd number?
- Thread starter teppic
- Start date
- Status
Its neither. Its a nothing.
There is no zero in Chinese fact fans.
There is no zero in Chinese fact fans.
If anything, even - as there is no remainder if divided by two.
Your right, its an even number and for the reason you give
Nebbiolo
Valuation: £108 million
Sorry lads, your wrong. The more I think about it, it clearly is an even number.
Dr Math speaks;
Date: 04/01/97 at 05:28:16
From: Doctor Pete
Subject: Re: Is Zero Even, Odd, or Neither?
Zero is an even number. An integer n is called *even* if there exists
an integer m such that n = 2m, and *odd* if n+1 is even. From this,
it is clear that 0 = (2)(0) is even. The reason for this definition
is so that we have the property that every integer is either even or
odd.
I'm surprised that some teachers believe 0 to be neither even nor
odd....
-Doctor Pete, The Math Forum
Date: 04/01/97 at 05:28:16
From: Doctor Pete
Subject: Re: Is Zero Even, Odd, or Neither?
Zero is an even number. An integer n is called *even* if there exists
an integer m such that n = 2m, and *odd* if n+1 is even. From this,
it is clear that 0 = (2)(0) is even. The reason for this definition
is so that we have the property that every integer is either even or
odd.
I'm surprised that some teachers believe 0 to be neither even nor
odd....
-Doctor Pete, The Math Forum
even, because for instance 29 and 31 are odd numbers therefore 30 (or anything with a zero) is even.
Nebbiolo
Valuation: £108 million
Interesting Danny, it looks like you're correct. From what I gather, numbers are usually considered to be merely "notions of counting", rather than abstract realities. Now there will be a counter-argument as to whether a number can indeed be an abstract reality, but I've not got the inclination to search that argument out.
Anyway, zero itself is highly abstract in that it stands for nothing. But it's representative of a set containing nothing. For example, 5 pebbles = 5 cows. The number 5 is an abstractation from all collections containing 5 actual things; that is, from sets of things which number 5 (5 dogs, 5 cats, 5 pretty girls, etc).
Therefore, zero represents that set which is filled with nothing. It is the count of the elements of a completely empty set.
Freaky really. I'm a bit suspicious of the view, although it holds a lot of importance in mathematics and science. To me, although numbers are abstract in the sense that they only exist if things exist, zero, or nothingness, doesn't describe anything other than a lack of something, which isn't a count as such. But clearly I'm wrong, so I'll bow to popular pressure and accept that fact.
But is minus-2 a number?
Anyway, zero itself is highly abstract in that it stands for nothing. But it's representative of a set containing nothing. For example, 5 pebbles = 5 cows. The number 5 is an abstractation from all collections containing 5 actual things; that is, from sets of things which number 5 (5 dogs, 5 cats, 5 pretty girls, etc).
Therefore, zero represents that set which is filled with nothing. It is the count of the elements of a completely empty set.
Freaky really. I'm a bit suspicious of the view, although it holds a lot of importance in mathematics and science. To me, although numbers are abstract in the sense that they only exist if things exist, zero, or nothingness, doesn't describe anything other than a lack of something, which isn't a count as such. But clearly I'm wrong, so I'll bow to popular pressure and accept that fact.
But is minus-2 a number?
The Esk
Player Valuation: £70m
Interesting and well put!
Most mathematicians see zero as an even number, however I don't like the concept that just because zero is clearly not odd it must be even.
It is widely accepted that zero is neither positive nor negative, therefore why can it not be accepted as neither odd nor even?
The importance of this issue is beginning to overwhelm me
Nebbiolo
Valuation: £108 million
Interesting and well put!
Most mathematicians see zero as an even number, however I don't like the concept that just because zero is clearly not odd it must be even.
It is widely accepted that zero is neither positive nor negative, therefore why can it not be accepted as neither odd nor even?
The importance of this issue is beginning to overwhelm me
Getting into the philosophy of mathematics, which is an area I've not had the fortune to read up on. But it's a complicated area, of that I'm sure.
I always loved the Platonic view that outside of human activity and observation, there exists entities that many of us view as social constructions, which are in gact concrete realities. The existence of numbers, therefore, are not reliant on there being a human there to visualise them, but are independently existing "things". We don't make maths up to make sense of the world, we discover maths and use the discipline to make sense of the world. An example would be the existence of, say, a square, triangle or circle.
It gets complicated after that and you go deep into the territory of metaphysics. Here, it can be posited: All structures that exist mathematically also exist physically.
Mathematical universe hypothesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's knotty stuff and there's no way of testing the hypothesis, but it's great as a puzzle; for seeing how far you can get with the idea.
Last edited:
- Status