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# The most epic question in the world

Is zero " 0 " a odd number or an even number?

Note by Yan Jie Chong
4 years, 7 months ago

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Zero is even, under three separate but related analyses-

• Number Line - consecutive integers vary by $$1$$, and each successive integer changes parity, from odd to even or even to odd.

• Additive rules - $$even + even = even$$ and $$odd + odd = even$$. Under this rule, zero can be even but cannot be odd.

• The definition of an even number (divisible by $$2$$ with no remainder)- The most commonly accepted definition is that the number "$$a$$" is even if there exists an integer "$$n$$" which makes the following statement true: $$a = 2 \times n$$. Since$$0$$ is an integer, so let $$n = 0$$ in the above equation and we get $$0 = 2 \times 0$$.

So $$0$$ satisfies the mathematical definition for being even.

- 4 years, 7 months ago

I feel that if the definition of an odd number is an integer of the form 2k+1, then 0 must be an even number, and should not be an odd number.

- 4 years, 7 months ago