What do you love about zero?
April 1, 2010 3:12 PM Subscribe
My favorite number is 0. I have many reasons for this, but I want more.
Does anyone have any good stories, proofs, quotations, etc. involving this beautiful, dangerous, and intriguing number?
Does anyone have any good stories, proofs, quotations, etc. involving this beautiful, dangerous, and intriguing number?
I like ballplayers who wear 0 or 00 as uniform numbers.
posted by fixedgear at 3:19 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by fixedgear at 3:19 PM on April 1, 2010
Zero is neither positive nor negative.
Zero is so powerful that it turns anything multiplied by it into itself. That's so powerful there isn't even a word for it, unless you're some kind of math geek or German or something.
posted by Etrigan at 3:34 PM on April 1, 2010 [5 favorites]
Zero is so powerful that it turns anything multiplied by it into itself. That's so powerful there isn't even a word for it, unless you're some kind of math geek or German or something.
posted by Etrigan at 3:34 PM on April 1, 2010 [5 favorites]
I love how mathematics' four greatest values, e, π, i, and 1, unite to form...0:
e^(πi) - 1 = 0
posted by spamguy at 3:41 PM on April 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
e^(πi) - 1 = 0
posted by spamguy at 3:41 PM on April 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
It has lots of names and nicknames: zip, nada, null, nullo, love (from tennis), the big egg, etc. You couldn't argue that, say, 27 has as many nicknames.
posted by workerant at 3:47 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by workerant at 3:47 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Zero is so powerful that it turns anything multiplied by it into itself. Similarly, zero can not be divided. Its role as a divisor, however, leads to fun mathematical fallacies and spurious proofs. For example:
3*0 = 0 and
7*0 = 0 therefore
3*0 = 7*0 and so divide each side by zero to reduce this equation to:
3=7
I also like the idioms "patient zero" and ground zero."
posted by carmicha at 3:55 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
3*0 = 0 and
7*0 = 0 therefore
3*0 = 7*0 and so divide each side by zero to reduce this equation to:
3=7
I also like the idioms "patient zero" and ground zero."
posted by carmicha at 3:55 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
e^(πi) - 1 = 0
Actually, it's -2. e^(πi) + 1 = 0
posted by sanko at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
Actually, it's -2. e^(πi) + 1 = 0
posted by sanko at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
The center of the 0 is filled with the possibility that can only come from emptiness.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:06 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:06 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" is one of my all time favorite books...should have mentioned that!
posted by junipero at 4:12 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by junipero at 4:12 PM on April 1, 2010
Another book, mainly about the origin of 0: The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero
posted by k. at 4:12 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by k. at 4:12 PM on April 1, 2010
Appending a zero to any number multiplies it by ten (1, 10, 100, 1000, etc.), but prepending it to any number does not change it at all (1, 01, 001, etc.).
Also, you can be saved by zero.
posted by googly at 4:13 PM on April 1, 2010
Also, you can be saved by zero.
posted by googly at 4:13 PM on April 1, 2010
Zero's Wikipedia page might be a good place to start.
posted by Robot Johnny at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by Robot Johnny at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2010
"Zero is my favorite number, mainly because it doesn't exist, kind of like my feelings for your infantile bullshit."
posted by philip-random at 4:46 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by philip-random at 4:46 PM on April 1, 2010
0 is the shape of surprise.
posted by FrotzOzmoo at 4:46 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by FrotzOzmoo at 4:46 PM on April 1, 2010
My favorite zero-related riddle/joke:
What did 0 say to 8?
"Nice belt"
posted by amyms at 4:57 PM on April 1, 2010
What did 0 say to 8?
"Nice belt"
posted by amyms at 4:57 PM on April 1, 2010
Zero is not a number. Neither is one.
A number is a collection of units. Numbers are often very different from each other, but they are of an entirely different order and class from nothing (which we name "zero") and from unit itself (which we term "one").
You might think I'm nuts, but Euclid agrees with me.
posted by koeselitz at 5:07 PM on April 1, 2010
A number is a collection of units. Numbers are often very different from each other, but they are of an entirely different order and class from nothing (which we name "zero") and from unit itself (which we term "one").
You might think I'm nuts, but Euclid agrees with me.
posted by koeselitz at 5:07 PM on April 1, 2010
Zero is a donut!
posted by iamkimiam at 5:24 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by iamkimiam at 5:24 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Check out "The Mighty Zero" by the Meat Puppets from their 1987 album Mirage.
posted by eeby at 5:27 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by eeby at 5:27 PM on April 1, 2010
Q: What's red and invisible?
A: No tomatoes.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:18 PM on April 1, 2010 [4 favorites]
A: No tomatoes.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:18 PM on April 1, 2010 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Certainly it makes sense to have no reasons.
posted by Kevin S at 6:31 PM on April 1, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by Kevin S at 6:31 PM on April 1, 2010 [7 favorites]
I suppose it could be argued that it is the only number for which every number is a factor.
I'm particularly fond of 0/0, 0^0, and any indeterminate form. It's a nice little way of calculus telling you, "That's not gonna work. Try something else."
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:47 PM on April 1, 2010
I'm particularly fond of 0/0, 0^0, and any indeterminate form. It's a nice little way of calculus telling you, "That's not gonna work. Try something else."
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:47 PM on April 1, 2010
Response by poster: Certainly it makes sense to have no reasons.
Dear Kevin S,
Probably the best response I ever could have imagined.
junipero
posted by junipero at 8:41 PM on April 1, 2010
Dear Kevin S,
Probably the best response I ever could have imagined.
junipero
posted by junipero at 8:41 PM on April 1, 2010
it's a circle; it goes on forever.
posted by apostrophe at 8:58 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by apostrophe at 8:58 PM on April 1, 2010
Although in mathematics you can't divide by zero, in most SQL implementations, NULL / 0 is defined, and equals NULL.
posted by nicwolff at 9:10 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by nicwolff at 9:10 PM on April 1, 2010
Thank you, NoraCharles.
I can't believe it took 33 answers to get to The Schoolhouse Rock.
Here is a kind of trippy but awesome version of the Lemonheads doing a cover of the tune.
posted by chicago2penn at 10:53 PM on April 1, 2010
I can't believe it took 33 answers to get to The Schoolhouse Rock.
Here is a kind of trippy but awesome version of the Lemonheads doing a cover of the tune.
posted by chicago2penn at 10:53 PM on April 1, 2010
Like black, zero is defined by lacking that which it is categorized with (color and value respectively). Lots of people's favorite color is black.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 11:45 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 11:45 PM on April 1, 2010
If two values are equal, this means the difference between them is equal to zero. This can be applied figuratively: if you support gender / racial equality, you argue that there should be zero difference in how members of different groups are treated. Put another way: if two things are alike in every respect, they are unalike in zero respects. Zero thus represents everything and nothing simultaneously.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 11:52 PM on April 1, 2010
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 11:52 PM on April 1, 2010
By not being defined as either an even or an odd number for the purposes of roulette, 0 and 00 modify the odds such that the house has a distinct advantage over every player (that is to say, the odds of landing on any one number are 37 to 1 while the payout is 35 to 1. That tiny difference is why casinos are rich and you're not).
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 12:00 AM on April 2, 2010
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 12:00 AM on April 2, 2010
Culturally, we rarely respect people who have success seemingly without trying, but instead admire those who achieve through hard work and determination. Without initial failure or humble beginnings, the ultimate success is without cultural value. In this way, the expression "from zero to hero" represents the pinnacle of all human achievement.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 12:05 AM on April 2, 2010
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 12:05 AM on April 2, 2010
My favorite number is 0.
Actually everyone's favourite number is 0. Proof follows...
X says "my favourite number is 8".
==> "Nothing is more appealing than 8."
==> "0 is more appealing than 8."
==> 0 is X's favourite number
QED
posted by genesta at 5:53 AM on April 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Actually everyone's favourite number is 0. Proof follows...
X says "my favourite number is 8".
==> "Nothing is more appealing than 8."
==> "0 is more appealing than 8."
==> 0 is X's favourite number
QED
posted by genesta at 5:53 AM on April 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Violet Hour at 3:17 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]