Working With Nothing.

The Zero was a great idea.  Take nothing and make something out of it.

No, this is not a theological statement. Nor is it a statement based on logic.  In math the zero represents nothing.  And that is very important in solving equations.  When you have a zero, you have reduced the possibilities by whatever it was you took away to get to that point.

We can illustrate this in two ways:

Negation:  A - A = 0.  Or  +A-A = 0.

Basically, you take something away and you have nothing left over.  In theory this is invoking the "inverse" operation or the "opposite" interger.  But hey, what works is realizing the truth, the absolute truth, that when you take something away, it is gone.

Put a different way, this is saying:

A +/- 0 = A.

That's right, taking away, or adding, nothing leaves you with what you started with.  Here is how it works in an equation:

715 + A = 984.
715 - 715 + A = 984 - 715
0 + A = 984 - 715
A = 269.

In an equation, you MUST take away or add the same thing to both side. Using the inverse, this works with adding back what is has been taken away.

A - 888 = 111
A - 888 + 888 = 111 + 888
A - 0 = 999
A = 999

Sure, most of you look at it and know A is 999.  But your mind is just that fast. It adds back what was taken away to get to the original value of A.

But what if you are doing something for free and told that those in charge were going to pay you twice as much for today's work? Twice nothing is nothing!  Exactly. In math that looks like this:

0 x 2 = 0.

It works that way no matter what you multiply by zero.  So, the way it looks in algebra is:

0 x A = 0

One last thing to remember:  You cannot DIVIDE by 0.

I know this to be a fact, and can prove it.  But to try to explain it using the word "Nothing" gets a bit bizarre.  Take my word for it.

Next: The One and the Only ONE