Number

A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so forth. Individual numbers can be represented in spoken or written language with number words, or with dedicated symbols called numerals; for example, "eleven" is a number word and "11" is the corresponding numeral. As only a limited list of symbols can be memorized, a numeral system is used to represent any number in an organized way. The most common representation is the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, a decimal system which can display any non-negative integer using a combination of ten Arabic numeral symbols called digits. Numerals can be used for counting (as with cardinal number of a collection or set), for labelling (as with telephone numbers), for ordering (as with serial numbers), and for codes (as with ISBNs). In common usage, however, a numeral is not clearly distinguished from the number that it represents. In mathematics, the notion of a number has been extended over the centuries to include zero (0), negative numbers such as negative one (−1), rational numbers such as one half ( 1 2 ) {\displaystyle \left({\tfrac {1}{2}}\right)} , real numbers such as the square root of 2 ( 2 ) {\displaystyle \left({\sqrt {2}}\right)} , and pi (π), and complex numbers which extend the real numbers with a square root of −1 (i), and its combinations with real numbers by adding or subtracting its multiples. Calculations with numbers are done with arithmetical operations, the most familiar being addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation. Their study or usage is called arithmetic, a term which may also refer to number theory, the study of the properties of numbers. Viewing the concept of zero as a number required a fundamental shift in philosophy, identifying...