Question

State whether the following statement is true or false. The whole number 0 has no predecessor.
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: In this question, we are given a statement that the whole number 0 has no predecessor and we have to state it as true or false. For this, we will first understand the meaning of the whole number and how to count the predecessor of any number. Using this, we will try to find a predecessor of 0, if it is the whole number then the statement is false and if it is not a whole number then the statement is true.

Complete step-by-step solution
Here we are given a statement as 'the whole number 0 has no predecessor'.
As we know, whole numbers are the numbers starting at 0 and counting up forever.
$\left\{ 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,\cdots \cdots \cdots \cdots \right\}$
The whole number doesn't include negative numbers, fractions, or decimals. Whole numbers can also be defined as a set of natural numbers and zero.
Now let us understand how to find the predecessor of any number. For any number (integer) its predecessor is the number just before it. Therefore, the predecessor is one minus of the given number. For finding a predecessor, we just need to subtract one from a given number.
Example: Predecessor of 987 will be 987-1 = 986.
Therefore, 986 is the predecessor of 987.
Now, let us calculate the predecessor of 0.
Predecessor of 0 will be 0-1 = -1.
Therefore, -1 is the predecessor of 0.
But from the definition of the whole number, -1 is a negative integer and cannot be included in the whole number. Therefore, -1 is not a whole number.
Hence, there is no predecessor of 0 which is the whole number.
Therefore, the given statement is true. The whole number 0 has no predecessor. Hence, option A is the correct answer.

Note: Students must learn the difference between integers, natural numbers, whole numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and real numbers. Natural numbers start from 1 and go on further. Whole numbers are natural numbers with 0. Integers include both positive and negative numbers but no fractional value. Rational numbers are numbers of the form $\dfrac{p}{q}$ where $q\ne 0$. Students can get confused between the predecessor and successor of any number. The predecessor is the number before the given number and the successor is the number after the given number.