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Poll: Is “-3” a whole number?

10 points by ColinWright ↗ HN
I've been having a discussion with a number of parents, teachers, mathematicians, engineers, and others, about what exactly is a "whole number."

Opinions vary, and it's certainly possible just to come up with a technical definition and say "That's the most convenient, that's what we'll use." But I'm interested to know what the community here on HN thinks.

Is "-3" a whole number?

14 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 40.8 ms ] thread
phaemon
I just went with what I was taught in school, where the "whole numbers" were just the natural numbers.

My feeling now is I don't suppose it really matters how you define them. :)

jsnk
Whole numbers: The numbers {0, 1, 2, 3, …}.
victorhugo31337
Whole number: "a number without fractions; an integer."

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {

    int num = -3;

    fprintf(stdout, "%d\n", num);
return 0;

}

Some people say whole numbers are not negative, while other people say zero is also not a whole number.

detaro
Surprising how split it is, I'd never have thought that 50% would say "No".
maxerickson
It's commonly taught that way.

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/WholeNumber.html

detaro
Seems to be an interesting case of a "false friend" then. The direct translation from/to German ("ganze Zahl"/"Ganzzahl") is very clearly defined as including the negative ones, and taught as such, in contrast to the natural numbers.
throwaway000002
Never met a whole -3 pizzas, nor a whole 0 pizzas for that matter.

That should be enough for you to deduce what I believe whole numbers are.

I should add, for a mathematical audience, I'd be careful, because of possible confusion, and insist on saying positive integers, and non-negative integers in the case of what I'd call the natural numbers.

victorhugo31337
Pragmatically I believe you are correct. I think negative whole numbers and zero are also a subset of "whole numbers" along with positive whole numbers.
jungletek
I believe you meant "real numbers" rather than your quoted "whole numbers" in your second sentence.
jonsen
It's a hole number. Minus three means three things are missing leaving three holes.
MTemer
this sounds like "it's holes all the way down"
TopologyDough
This is a definition question. Mathematically negative numbers are not whole numbers. This information is of little value without context though.
SamReidHughes
For me it was defined as the non-negative integers in middle school, the same moment the naturals were defined to be the positive integers.