Copyright 2016

Looking Glass Ventures.

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ISBN: 978-1-944931-04-9

Note To Reader
Welcome to this little Zen Masters
guide on Numbers and the Number
System, the third problem-solving book
in our Zen series for middle-school
students. As with all our texts in this
series, our goal is to simply unveil the
joys and delights of this mathematical
topic, to provide context and make
sense of the details, and help set you
on a path of mathematical mastery and
clever problem-solving.
This title is of help and interest to
students and educators alike. As with
all the titles in the Zen Masters series,
this Numbers guide is an eBook with a
matching online course at
http://edfinity.com/ZenSeries/Numbers

(effective June 1, 2016).

We have well over 100 problems to try,

along with an abundance of practice
examples. So feel free to browse
through this guide casually as a book
on a digital device, or to work through
its details as a focused, auto-graded
course -- or both!
All the details one needs to know about
Numbers are here in this book,
explained naturally and swiftly, along
with a robust compilation of practice
problems. The more you try solving
problems, the more confident youll
become at them -- youll even start to
notice recurring ideas and approaches
which you can then use to your
advantage. If you havent already, be
sure to read 8 Tips to Conquer Any
Problem in our Zen Masters series.
This is the must-read introduction to

building your problem-solving skills. In

fact, this guide is going to assume you
are familiar with the strategies and
advice we go through there.
Okay! Without further ado, lets get
started!

James Tanton
March 2016

Acknowledgements
My deepest thanks and appreciation to
Michael Pearson, Executive Director of
the Mathematical Association of
America, for setting me on the path of
joyous mathematical problem solving
with the MAA Curriculum Inspirations
project, and to Shivram Venkat at
Edfinity for inviting me to extend that
wonderful work to the global community
of younger budding mathematicians. I
am so very honored to be part of the
unique, and truly remarkable, digital
format experience Shivram and Edfinity
have developed for the world.

James Tanton
January, 2016

Edfinitys Zen Masters Series

Edfinitys Zen Masters series is a
collection of 11 digital titles (6 for
Middle School and 5 for High School)
created for the modern educator and
student. The titles are available only in
digital form and consist of carefully
crafted problem collections designed to
help students master problem solving.
Each title guides students through the
themes of a specific topic (such as
Algebra or Probability), presenting
concise expository content, select
examples illustrating specific problem
solving techniques, and between 150200 problems expertly arranged to help
the user achieve complete mastery.
The volumes are each accompanied
with optional access to an Edfinity
digital companion presenting all the

problems in the title as a self-paced,

online course with auto-grading and
performance analysis. Educators may
enroll their students to track their
progress, or students/parents may
enroll individually. Access to the guides
provides educators access to rich,
supplemental problem collections for
classroom use.
The Zen Masters Series is designed to
serve broad usage by educators and
students alike, offering substantive
general enrichment, development of
foundational skills in problem solving,
and contest preparation. In addition to
helping students prepare effectively for
local and major international contests,
the problems provide robust attention to
standards and guidelines of the
Common Core State Standards in

Mathematics (USA), GCSE (UK),

Singapores Math curriculum,
Australian Curriculum, and most other
international syllabi.

ZEN MASTERS MIDDLE SCHOOL

SERIES
8 Tips to Solve Any Problem, by James
Tanton
Counting and Probability, by James
Tanton
Numbers and the Number System, by
James Tanton
Structure, Patterns and Logic, by
James Tanton
Relationships and Equations, by James
Tanton
Geometry, by James Tanton
Solutions Manual for each title by
James Tanton

ZEN MASTERS HIGH SCHOOL SERIES

Algebra, by David Wells
Geometry, by David Wells
Number Theory, by David Wells
Discrete Mathematics, by David Wells
Advanced Topics, by David Wells
Solutions Manual for each title by David
Wells
Enroll at
http://edfinity.com/ZenSeries/Numbers
(effective June 1, 2016) for online
practice with scoring and complete
solutions.

1. The Counting Numbers

What do you think was the first
mathematical activity mankind ever
performed? It might simply have been
counting.
In 1937, archeologists in Moravia
uncovered the radius bones of a wolf
dated over 30,000 years old on which
55 notches were carved, 25 of them in
groups of five.

Do this think this suggests Paleolithic

man was counting? (If so, counting
what? Days? Full moons? Number of
deer caught? Also, why groups of five?)
Counting seems fundamental to human
thinking. It is certainly fundamental to
mathematics.

Definition: The counting numbers

(also called the natural numbers)
are the positive whole numbers
1, 2 , 3 , 4,
Question: Is there a biggest
counting number?
Warning

WARNING:

SOME PEOPLE INCLUDE ZERO,

, IN THE LIST OF COUNTING NUMBERS.
OTHERS ARGUE THAT ZERO SHOULDNT BE
CONSIDERED A COUNTING NUMBER. (AFTER
ALL, WHEN YOU SAY THERE ARE ZERO
ELEPHANTS SITTING UNDER YOUR BED, IS
THAT BECAUSE YOU ACTUALLY COUNTED
THEM?) WATCH OUT WHEN YOU READ MATH
BOOKS SOME AUTHORS WILL CONSIDER
ZERO TO BE IN THIS LIST AND OTHERS
WONT. THERE IS NO FIXED RULE IN THE
COMMUNITY OF MATHEMATICIANS ABOUT
THIS.

To be definite lets use the counting

numbers to count dots. For example,
5 represents this many dots:

Actually, it does not matter how we

arrange the dots, each of these two
pictures represents 5 as well.

ADDITION

We can add numbers by grouping dots.

For example, two dots together with
three dots gives five dots.

2+3=5
We are condition to read from left to
right, but if we look at this picture from
right to left instead we see the
statement 3 + 2 = 5. In our minds eye we
can now see that 11458273+ 9258025
must give the same answer as
9258025+11458273 without doing a lick of
arithmetic.
Viewing the same picture from two
different directions leads us to believe:

ARITHMETIC RULE 1:
no matter which two
counting numbers and represent.

For those who like jargon, this is called

the commutative property of addition.

MULTIPLICATION

In the context of counting numbers,

multiplication is usually seen as
repeated addition. For example, 2 3 is
interpreted as two groups of three,
2 3 = 3+ 3 = 6

and 4 5 as four groups of five,

4 5 = 5+5+5+5 = 20 .

It is not immediately obvious that four

groups of five should philosophically
give the same answer five groups of
four. (Maybe it is a coincidence that
4 5 and 5 4 both equal 20 ?)

But if we arrange our four groups of five

in a rectangular array and then view
this array from the different perspective,
then it becomes clear that both
quantities represent the same 20 dots.

This idea explains, without doing the

arithmetic, why 1167 3107 must give the
same answer as 3107 1167 .
ARITHMETIC RULE 2:
no matter which two
counting numbers and
represent.
.

For those who like jargon, this is called

the commutative property of
multiplication.
Notation
Notation: The symbol is often used
for multiplication of two numbers
( 6 6 = 36 , for example). People also
used a raise dot ( 6 6 = 36 ). Or if some
numbers are represent by letters, then
no symbols are used for multiplication
and the two numbers being multiplied
are simply written side-by-side. For
example, 2a means 2a and pw means
pw . (Writing 66 when you mean 6 6
does not work!)

PROPERTY OF ZERO AND ONE

If I have seven dots and add no more

dots to the page, then I still have seven
dots: 7 + 0 = 7 .
Also, one group of seven dots is
seven dots: 1 7 = 7 .
Challenge: Give interpretations to
the statements 0 + 7 = 7 and 7 1 = 7 .
These observations lead to:
ARITHMETIC RULE 3:
and
all counting numbers .

for

For those who like jargon we call 0 the

additive identity and 1 the multiplicative
identity.
Also, seven groups of zero dots is still
no dots: 7 0 = 0 .

Challenge: Give an interpretation to

the statement 0 7 = 0 . (This one is
philosophically troublesome: If I
dont have a group of seven dots, it
could be because I have four dots.
So 0 7 = 4 ?)
People like to believe this next rule:

ARITHMETIC RULE 4:
for all counting
numbers .

For those who like jargon this is

sometimes called the multiplicative
property of zero.

GROUPING WITH PARENTHESES

How should we interpret 2 + 3+ 4 ?

Reading the picture left to right wed

compute 2 + 3 first to get 5 and then add
4 to get 9 . From right to left wed
compute 4 + 3 first to get 7 and then add
2 to get 9 . Of course all interpretations
will lead to the same answer. But if an
author wants to communicate to the
reader a specific order for computation,
then shell introduce parentheses to
group symbols.

2+ 3+ 4 is computed as 2 + 7 ,to get 9 .

2+ 3 + 4 is computed as 5 + 4 ,to get 9 .

Of course, no matter the order in which

we compute these sums, the answer is
the same.

ARITHMETIC RULE 5:
for all counting
numbers , , and .

Parentheses can be nested and it is

understood that the innermost
parentheses are to be computed first.

(2+ (3+ 4)) +5

is to be computed as

2+ 7 +5, which is then computed as

9 +5 , which is 14 .

We have the social convention:

PARENTHESES CONVENTION:
COMPUTE QUANTITIES INSIDE PARENTHESES
FIRST. IF THERE ARE PARENTHESES WITHIN
PARENTHESES, COMPUTE THE INNERMOST
ONES FIRST.

For example, (2+ 3) + ( 4 +5) is to be

computed as (5+ 9) = 14 .

PRACTICE EXAMPLE: In how many ways can one

place parentheses around a sum of four terms,
a + b + c + d , so that one is only ever adding two
quantities at a time?

Answer: There are 5 ways.

( (a + b) + c ) + d
( a + (b + c )) + d
a + (( b + c ) + d )

a + ( b + ( c + d ))

( (a + b) + (c + d ))

PROBLEM 1: In how many ways can one place

parentheses around a sum of four terms,
a + b + c + d + e , so that one is only ever adding two
quantities at a time?
e

PARENTHESES AND MULTIPLICATION

How does one interpret 2 + 3 4 ?

Reading out loud from left to right this
sounds like two plus three (which is
five) times four (giving twenty).
However, we have the social
convention of always computing
multiplications before additions.

2 + 3 4 is interpreted as 2+ 3 4 ,

which is 2 +12, giving 14 .

We have:
MULTIPLICATION CONVENTION:
MULTIPLICATIONS COME EQUIPPED WITH
INVISIBLE PARENTHESES. THEY ARE ALWAYS
COMPUTED BEFORE ADDITIONS.

For example, 3 3+1+ 2 2 is computed

as (3 3) +1+ (2 2) and so is 9 +1+ 4 = 14 .
(Most people dont bother to draw the
parenthesis back in.)

DISTRIBUTION

Look at this picture of 4 5 , for groups of

five.

Thinking of 5 as 2 + 3 we see in the

picture 4 3 , for groups of three, and
4 2 , four groups of two. We have:
4 5 = 4 3+ 4 2.

In general, this leads us to believe:

ARITHMETIC RULE 6:
for all counting
numbers , , and .

Other variations of this rule include

a + b )c = ac + bc and a( b + c + d ) = ab + ac + ad ,
(

and so on.

PRACTICE EXAMPLE: Compute 54 23.

Answer: 54 23 is 50 23 plus 4 23.

Now 50 23 is 50 20+50 3, which is
1000+150 = 1150 .
And 4 23 is 4 20+ 4 3 = 80+12 = 92 .
Combining, we get 54 23 = 1150+ 92.
Let me think of this as
1142+ 8 + 92 = 1142+100 so the answer is
1242.