Is zero an even number?
Among the numbers we use in our daily lives, one of the numbers that we can call the strangest is zero. For example, it is contradictory whether zero is a natural number or not. Or, while zero represents nothingness for the addition process, it appears as a number that swallows up in multiplication. In fact, if you divide any number (except zero) by zero, it can be converted into an undefined expression that we cannot even name the process. As such, “Is the number zero odd or even?” the question comes to mind. To answer this question, we first need to know some definitions.
Zero Is an Even Number!
Definition: k is an integer provided that n=2.k equality, the number n is even. On the other hand, n=2.k+1 or n=2.if k-1 happens, then the number n is odd.
Let’s give some examples by definition. when k=3, n=2.k equality, n=6. when k=8, n=2.k the equation , k = 16, so no matter what integer we give to the number k, the number n will be even. Well, if we give 0 to the number k, then the number n will also be 0 in the equation n=2k. Thus, n=0 becomes even. On the other hand, every integer you can divide by two is an even number. Since zero satisfies this condition, it becomes an even number again.
The Public Is Not Sure That Zero Is an Even Number!
Although we have made a mathematical explanation, it is confusing whether the number zero is odd or even. For example; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to deal with fuel shortages after a storm
He followed a path as follows: “In New York, drivers whose license plates end with an odd number or letter or other character will be able to use gasoline or diesel fuel on odd-numbered days of the month. Those whose license plates end with an even number or zero will be able to buy gasoline or diesel fuel only on even-numbered days of the month.”
The use of the expression ”even number or number of zeros” implies that zero is not even. Another example is that, according to James Grime at the University of Cambridge, reaction time experiments in the 1990s showed that people can determine whether zero is odd or even
he revealed that he was 10% slower than other numbers in deciding that he was. On the other hand, a survey of primary school children in the 1990s showed that about 50% of them thought that zero was even, about 20% that it was odd, and the remaining 30% that it was neither, or they did not know. This problem was not limited only to society. during the fog in Paris in 1977, the use of cars was restricted, so that their license plates
people ending in odd or even numbers were driving on alternate days. Grime explains this situation as follows: “The police did not know if they could stop license plates with the number zero, and that’s why they allowed them to pass, because they did not know whether it was odd or even.”
The Number of Zeros in History
On the other hand, in the early years of the history of mathematics, zero was not recognized as a number. The Babylonians and the Ancient Greeks used it to distinguish between small and large numbers, for example, 26 and 206. Then, people could only tell if one number was larger than another from the context in which it was used. 13. The Italian mathematician Fibonacci, who is called the Golden Ratio in the XVII century, was the first to popularize Arabic numerals in Europe, the numbers we use today. He classified one to nine as a number, and zero as a “sign”. As a result, for more than 1000 years, mathematicians have had difficulties with the number zero, and non-mathematicians are still undecided about how to classify it.
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References: bbc, mathworld
