# Why is Zero important?

Why is Zero important?

We are usually scared of the symbol zero because of its negative connotation. For students, it means they have not passed the test. For those who are employed, it means there’s no more money left to spend. Zero means nothing but for mathematics zero means a lot.

1. Zero is a neutral number. It can have a negative or positive value. It is the boundary of mathematical digits. In counting numbers, it usually starts with zero.
2. It is a symbol which means nothing. In the equation, zero means nothing is left and the value is empty.
3. Zero is an important place holder. We understand that a number is 10 because of the zero digit. We understand that the value of ones place in 20 is empty because of zero. It’s easy to distinguish numbers from each other because of zero such as 108 and 18.
4. In graphing x and y axis, it starts from zero. It helps interpret the graph easily.
5. In polynomials, zero is also needed specially in using quadratic formula. It’s easier to write polynomials because of zero such as ax2 + bx + c = 0.
6. Zero is needed in explaining properties in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We can understand that a number added or subtracted by zero remains that number. However, if a number is multiplied or divided by a zero, the answer is zero.
7. Zero is also one of the languages in computer . It is needed to create code and messages so that the computer can function well.
8. Zero is needed in numbers with decimal points. If the value is empty, we could not just proceed with the number because zero means nothing which means 0.022 is not equal with 0.22.

Zero may be nothing to others but mathematics could not exist without zero. That is how important zero is.