Introduction

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How are the numerals in the statement that follows used differently? Do they represent different types of numbers?

A class of MDEV 102 has 19 students and is held on the 2nd floor of Bridges in room number 269.

The sentence has four numerals representing numbers used in three different ways.

The 102 and 269 are numerals called identification or nominal numbers since they are used to identify, name, or label.
The 19 is a numeral for a cardinal number since it answers the question: How many elements are in a set?
The 2 is a numeral for an ordinal number since it specifies a position in an ordering of a group of objects.

Definitions. A number is the idea or abstract notion of quantity.
A numeral is the symbol(s) used to represent a number.

Example. The numeral 19 represents the idea that there are nineteen students in the class.

Our concern in this chapter is with whole numbers used as cardinal numbers in solving problems. We begin by developing these concepts, which will be used throughout the course.