Braingle: 'Zero Work' Brain Teaser

Zero Work

Math brain teasers require computations to solve.

Puzzle ID:	#18352
Fun:	(1.89)
Difficulty:	(1.64)
Category:	Math
Submitted By:	scoutman

Is zero even or odd?

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Comments

StepIntoNowhere Jul 26, 2004	Good teaser, although it was a little on the easy side!! Nice job anyways!
Beckmoose Jul 26, 2004	This was ok. Personally, I didnt like it, but keep up the good work!
Gizzer Jul 27, 2004	Seems to me to be a straight forward math question, rather than a teaser. Of course, someone may disagree with the answer.
mad-ade Jul 28, 2004	any one in particular?
Gizzer Jul 28, 2004	Nope
eelliott2 Aug 03, 2004	I am pretty sure Zero is neither even or odd...it is just zero...a jumber that holds no value...a natural whole number..it is niether negative or positive...ZERO is ZERO.
AXTON Aug 04, 2004	to be even a number must be divisable by 2. 0 cannot be divided by 2. I tired to correct this teaser..........IM SORRY BUT THE ANSWER IS WRONG
rkb-1961 Aug 09, 2004	In mathematics an even number is defined as 2n, wheras an odd number is defined as 2n+1. So zero must be even.
eelliott2 Aug 10, 2004	But you can't divide 0 by 2, it's an error...try it on most caculators and it will say error...ask your math professor and he/she will say say zero is neither even or odd.
Gizzer Aug 11, 2004	I tried the calculator, elliot: 0/2=0, 0/3=0, 0/4=0 and so on. But 2/0 gives "error". As for asking a math prof, I get some saying 0 is even and some saying 0 is neither even nor odd. It depends on whether you are referring to integers or natural numbers.
scoutman Aug 11, 2004	It's nice to know that my teasers can provoke such stimulating discussion. Thank you all.
CaNaDiAnGiRl Aug 22, 2004	Let me put it this way.When you have an even number of something, between two people both people will have the same amount.When you have zero of something both people get nothing so they both get the same amount.Therefore zero is an even number.
jetdjc15 Aug 25, 2004	Right answer wrong definition.....it is even because if we where both sharing 0 cup cakes we would each have th same amount of cup cakes......haha i feel like i just explained that to a 2 year old
jetdjc15 Aug 25, 2004	haha sorry canada i didnt read your response
Stullberg Aug 30, 2004	In math talk, the definition of an even number is that it is equal to the product of some integer and 2. Since 0 does equal the product of some integer (in this case, also 0) and 2, 0 qualifies as even. In formulae: x is even iff x = 2y, and x and y are integers. Since 0 = 2(0), and 0 is an integer, 0 is even.
Sane Feb 11, 2005	Let's all revise simple intergal rules: Two even numbers always add to an even number. One even and one odd always add to an odd number. Two odds always add to an even number. 0 + 0 = 0 0 + 1 = 1 0 + 2 = 2 Therefore it is an even number.
trumpetsgirl Oct 12, 2005	I've always thought 0 was even math teachers told me that it was neither
cate88 Mar 22, 2006	eelliott2 is right. 'It's a number that holds no value'. It's nothing. It can't hold either an even value or an odd value, because it doesn't hold a value. agreed, stimulating conversation... but bad riddle. Not everyone agrees with this answer.
Question_Mark Mar 28, 2006	I say even. 10 is even. 10 ends in 0.
drussel3 Jun 05, 2007	This answer baffled me, until I did some research. 0 is not positive or negative, it is though an even number. The definition of an even number is: n=2k where k is an integer.