When were zeros used in ARITHMETIC?
AI GENERATED RESPONSE FROM BRAVE SEARCH ENGINE:
Zero was first used as a placeholder in ancient Mesopotamia as early as the 3rd century B.C., but it was not treated as a number for arithmetic operations until India in the 7th century.
- Placeholder Origins: The Sumerians used empty spaces around 3,000 B.C., while the Babylonians introduced a specific two-wedge symbol around 300 B.C. to denote empty positions in their sexagesimal system, though this was not yet a number.
- First Arithmetic Use: Brahmagupta formalized zero as a number with defined arithmetic rules in his 628 CE work, Brahmasphutasiddhanta, establishing operations for addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
- Evolution of the Symbol: While the Bakhshali Manuscript (likely 3rd or 4th century) used a dot as a placeholder, the Gwalior inscription of 876 CE provides the earliest clear evidence of the zero symbol used in a practical, positional number system resembling the modern oval.
- Spread to the World: The concept traveled to the Islamic world by 773 CE, where it was integrated into algebra by Al-Khwarizmi, and reached Europe around the 12th century through the work of Fibonacci.
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Sunday, April 12, 2026 07:34PM