![]() For example, the number 302 has 3 hundreds, no tens, and 2 ones. ![]() Think of it as an empty container, signifying that that place is empty. In order for this to work, we have to have a way to mark an empty place in a number, or the place values won’t come out right. These numerals can stand for ones, tens, hundreds, or whatever depending on their position in the number. When we write a number, we use only the ten numerals 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Well, before this starts to sound like a Zen koan, let’s look at how we use the numeral “0.” Arab and Indian scholars were the first to use zero to develop the place-value number system that we use today. What is zero? Is it a number? How can the number of nothing be a number? Is zero nothing, or is it something? We call the set of natural numbers plus the number zero the whole numbers. ![]() If the farmer does not have any sheep, then the number of sheep that the farmer owns is zero. ![]()
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