Posted by T.Gracken on October 23, 2002 at 15:01:42:
In Reply to: Re: natural posted by Leon-Sotelo on October 23, 2002 at 13:11:32:
: : It 0 a natural number?
: : Thank you.
: : Leon-Sotelo.
this really depends on the definition chosen by your teacher.
Typically zero is not included in the set of natural numbers.
Most math texts define a natural number as a number in the set {1, 2, 3, 4, . . . } (where the ". . ." means 'and so on') so zero is not included.
I like a more formal definition so my definition for natural numbers is: A natural number is the number one or any finite sum of one's. My definition therefor excludes zero.
0 is usually included in the definition of whole numbers, which is: a whole number is the union of the set of natural numbers with zero. textbooks usually write this {0, 1, 2, 3, . . . }.
...BUT... as stated above, it depends on who is defining the sets. And for you, it definitely depends on who is grading your answers! consult them.