- #1
GreenPrint
- 1,196
- 0
Why do we associate numbers with a line?
It just dawned on me that I was never told why and that all the math I have studied so far assumed that numbers could be placed on a number line =/. Questioning this seems odd to me but I would like to exactly know why. I can't think of a reason.
Also the number zero... is the only point on the number line that is neither positive nor negative. Does it only exist because in order for us to place numbers on a number line we have to have some point to join negative numbers and positive numbers? Without it would be kind of hard to place both positive numbers and negative numbers on a line wouldn't? I've been thinking about it some and zero is... smaller than the most smallest negative number and smaller than the most smallest positive number... um also we assume that zero is indeed the only point on the number line were positive numbers and negative numbers meet and that there is no number which exists that is larger than the largest positive number +∞ and larger than the most largest negative number -∞? But yet we have zero as this point smaller than the smallest positive and negative numbers? Why can't we have both and have the number line behave like a line until you got to a point were numbers got so large that the number line bend and curved back to the negative numbers... or just have zero be the point joining -∞ and +∞ instead of it's location between the two smallest numbers and have a number line like this...?
what if there really were to zeros on the number line, one joining the smallest positive and negative numbers and one joining the largest positive and negative numbers... then when you divide by zero you can't because you are trying to divide by two different numbers or something...
It just dawned on me that I was never told why and that all the math I have studied so far assumed that numbers could be placed on a number line =/. Questioning this seems odd to me but I would like to exactly know why. I can't think of a reason.
Also the number zero... is the only point on the number line that is neither positive nor negative. Does it only exist because in order for us to place numbers on a number line we have to have some point to join negative numbers and positive numbers? Without it would be kind of hard to place both positive numbers and negative numbers on a line wouldn't? I've been thinking about it some and zero is... smaller than the most smallest negative number and smaller than the most smallest positive number... um also we assume that zero is indeed the only point on the number line were positive numbers and negative numbers meet and that there is no number which exists that is larger than the largest positive number +∞ and larger than the most largest negative number -∞? But yet we have zero as this point smaller than the smallest positive and negative numbers? Why can't we have both and have the number line behave like a line until you got to a point were numbers got so large that the number line bend and curved back to the negative numbers... or just have zero be the point joining -∞ and +∞ instead of it's location between the two smallest numbers and have a number line like this...?
what if there really were to zeros on the number line, one joining the smallest positive and negative numbers and one joining the largest positive and negative numbers... then when you divide by zero you can't because you are trying to divide by two different numbers or something...