<The 13 most famous Numbers and their stories ⁄ >

The number zero was the the number that enabled the denominational number system and therefore the basis on which modern mathematics was built. Numerous old cultures did not have an equivalent for the zero like for instance the Romans.
Its origin and thus the origin of the decimal system dates back to India in the 3rd century before Christ. Back then the numeric symbol however was different for every order of magnitude.

The number zero has quite a few specific attributes. It is a "neutral" element of the addition, as a zero added to any sum does not change the value of the sum. It is also called an "absorbing" element in a multiplication as everything multiplied by zero is zero. The division by zero is not yet described and thus stays undefined in mathematics.



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