Unit 7 discussion: chapter 4, the zero symbol | MGF1107

In this chapter, we studied the Egyptian, Chinese, Roman, Babylonian, Mayan, and Greek numeration systems in addition to our own Hindu-Arabic number system. Please research and respond to at least two of the following topics:

• Which systems do/don’t have a symbol for “zero”? If the system has a symbol for zero, what is it?
• What is the history of the development of our Hindu-Arabic symbol “0” for zero?
• Why is it important to have a symbol for zero? What confusion could arise in systems which don’t have a symbol for zero? Please explain and give an example.

Directions

Participation in Discussion Boards is a required part of this class (5% of your overall course average).

The requirements for this graded Discussion Board are:

• Your initial post is due by the 3rd day of the Discussion Board and must contain at least 100 words.
• You must respond to at least two classmates, and your response posts must contain at least 50 words.
• Please answer any questions posed in the instructor’s response to your post(s).
• All posts should be relevant to the week’s topic(s) and should include substantive, correct math content.
• All posts should be grammatically correct – please use Spellcheck as necessary.
• Please use APA citation format if you get help from another source (our textbook, another book, a website, etc.). Try to use your own words!