The key difference between natural numbers and whole numbers is the presence of the value ‘0’ in whole numbers. A number is an arithmetic value which is used to represent a particular quantity. In Mathematics, the different types of numbers are as follows:
- Integers
- Real Numbers
- Natural Numbers
- Rational Numbers
- Whole numbers
- Irrational Numbers
- Complex Numbers
The different types of numbers are classified based on their characteristic properties. In this article, let us discuss the difference between natural and whole numbers with examples in detail.
Definition of Natural and Whole Numbers
Natural Numbers: The numbers 1, 2, . . . . , and N all are called Natural Numbers. The negative numbers and 0 are not counted as natural numbers because 1 is considered the smallest natural number. Examples of natural numbers are 34, 22, 2, 81, 134, 15
Whole Numbers: The numbers 0, 1, 2, . . . . . , N all are called Whole Numbers, i.e. if 0 is included in natural numbers, then it is known as Whole Numbers. Whole numbers are located on the right side of the number line. Zero is the smallest whole number. Also, negative numbers are not whole numbers. For example, 0, 13, 22, 290, 19, 34, 95 all are whole numbers.
What is the Difference Between Natural and Whole Numbers?
The major difference between natural and whole numbers is that natural number doesn’t include 0 whereas whole numbers include 0 too. Let us discuss the other differences also.
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Difference Between Natural and Whole Numbers |
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S.No. |
Natural Numbers |
Whole Numbers |
| 1 | Natural numbers are defined as the basic counting numbers. The natural number in set notation is {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …..} | Whole numbers are defined as the set of natural numbers and zero. The whole numbers in set notation is {0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ….} |
| 2 | Natural Numbers are represented using the letter “N” | Whole Numbers are represented using the letter “W”. |
| 3 | Counting number starts from 1 | Counting number starts from 0 |
| 4 | We can say that all the natural numbers are considered as whole numbers | We can say that all the whole numbers are not considered as natural numbers |
Solved Examples
Example 1: Find whole numbers from the given numbers. 13, 0, 5, 89, 4, -4, -3, 23
Sol: Whole Numbers = 13, 0, 5, 89, 4, 23
Example 2: Find whole numbers from 4, 14/5, 0, (0.97), 2, -6, -17, 21
Sol: Whole Numbers = 4, 0, 2, 21.
Example 3: From the given series of numbers, find natural numbers. 41, (0.4), 5, 90, -91, 0, -7.
Sol: Natural Numbers = 41, 5, 90.
Example 4: From the given series of numbers, find natural numbers. 4, 4/15, 0, (0.87), 2, -7, -17, 21.
Sol: Natural Numbers = 4, 2, 21.
Video Lesson on Numbers
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