Re: numbers??

[Chuck Banks <chuck -at- ASL -dot- DL -dot- NEC -dot- COM>]

Jill,

        Numbers are any set of abstract characters used for counting,
calculating, or computing according to an accepted set of rules.

        Within the Western World view of mathematics, there are many
number systems in frequent usage.  A few of the more commonly
experienced are:

        Whole numbers:  1, 2, and so on, as opposed to fractions
                        (1/2, 1/3, etc.)

        Integers:  A set of numbers comprising positive whole
                   numbers, negative whole numbers (-1,-2,...)
                   and zero

        Counting numbers:  Annother name for the positive
                           integers (whole numbers) (1,2,3,...)

        Real numbers:  The set of all integers and all fractions

        A digit is an individual character within a given number.
For instance, in the number 213, 1 is the second digit.

        This should get you started.  For more than this, you
need to refer to mathematics texts, not the dictionary.

Best Regards,

Chuck Banks
--
__        ________     ______
|\\   |  ||          //              Chuck Banks
| \\  |  ||_______  ||               Senior Technical Writer
|  \\ |  ||         ||               NEC America, Inc.
|   \\|   \\______   \\______        E-Mail:      chuck -at- asl -dot- dl -dot- nec -dot- com
America, Incorporated                CompuServe:  72520,411