APPREGIATION OF NUMBERS Why do we call this number, “2”, two? Why is it not four, zero, or even five? Though it takes a lot of reading to pacify our minds about this representation, we just have to conclude one thing ~ that is, we look at numbers as signs and symbols used to represent magnitudes or quantities. The idea of the signs and symbols was standardized and became acceptable universally, The numbers we use everyday represent magnitudes, quantities, and coding to name a few. Numbers can be of different scales. This means that their representations are results of the types of measurements they are assigned. They can be nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Nominal Numbers refers to the characteristic or attribute of subjects or objects that is used for naming, labeling, and categorizing only, This means that these numbers cannot be arranged in an ordering manner nor computed using the fundamental operations. They serve only for counting or presentation purposes. Gender is a nominal term. This attribute can only be used for counting or coding purposes and not for any further computations. Say, if the number “I” is encoded for “Male” and the number “2” is encoded for “Female,” it is not safe to say “I” + "1" = "2," as this literally means that “Male” plus “Male” equals “Female,” which is an absurd. These examples should not in any way be used to create an advantage over another. This concept is also applicable when assigning numbers to the other nominal terms found below: © Cause of death, Nationality, Color of the eyes, Religion, Color of the skin, Race, Names Ordinal Numbers refers to the characteristic of subjects or objects that is used for ranking and ordering. When numbers are sorted or arranged to express their levels or ranks or orders, they are said to be ordinal in scale, Everything that comes in orders or ranks are included in this classification, Examples include: © Year level, Threshold of Pain, Social status, Attitude toward a subject, Level of behavior, and many more leveling in the field of social science, When a student wants to establish who or which among the numbers are of the highest or lowest rank, this classification is the most appropriate. Ranking can be done using first, second, up to nth place. (MATHEMATICS 1H THE MODERN WORLD 9Interval Numbers refers to the characteristic or attribute of subjects or objects that is of known sizes or distances. This means that the units of measurements in this scale are arbitrary, and the number zero does not mean an absence of the characteristic or attribute of the subject or object. This classification involves those data sets that are known in terms of sizes and some other characteristics. Examples are found below: * In Temperature, 0 °C does not mean an absence of temperature. Ratio Numbers refers to the characteristic or attribute of subjects or objects that contains the characteristic of the interval data but in this case, zero has a true value. This means that the number zero indicates an absence of the characteristic or attribute under consideration, This is also called the strongest level of measurement, Examples include the following: * Height, Weight, Monetary savings, and the like. WE GREW UP WITH NUMBERS Our orientation with numbers can be traced back to our childhood, We grew up with numbers in our midst. We should remember that our parents taught us how to count first; thus, the counting numbers were introduced to us. Later on, our curiosity was developed when we encountered the number 0. We were taught also that this number is a representation of a number that is smaller than 1. Apparently, the set of whole numbers was introduced to us. In school, our teachers taught us how to perform the mathematical operation of subtraction. It is so nice to know that when a smaller number is subtracted from a bigger one, the difference is still present in the set of whole numbers that we know. On the other hand, when a bigger number is deducted from a smaller one, we realize that there are numbers that are smaller than zero, which we call the negative numbers. Thus, a new set of numbers is introduced and we call it — the set of integers. ‘Then we divided two numbers. When we divided larger numbers by a number that was divisible, like ten and two, the quotient was still in the set of numbers that were introduced to us. We also learned that not all division processes were like that. There were times when we divided smaller numbers by larger ones. We were then introduced to the set of fractions and decimals. Then we had rational numbers — a combination of fractions/decimals and integers, irrational numbers, numbers that could not be expressed as a quotient of two numbers. Then we had the real numbers and the non-real ones — the subset of the complex number system. Our ability to like these numbers was a product of how they were presented to us. Some may like numbers and others do not. Whatever our attitudes are, one thing is very certain: We cannot get rid of numbers, for numbers are everywhere. w MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD