Abstract
You should be familiar with the method of representing numbers as points on a number line. A horizontal line, or axis, is drawn, with two special points marked 0 and 1; 0 is called the origin, and is to the left of 1. The positive number x is represented by a point on the axis whose distance to the right of 0 is x times as far as the distance from 0 to 1. We usually say the distance from 0 to 1 is the unit distance, and say the point representing x is x units to the right of the origin. Negative numbers go to the left of 0, and — x is x units to the left of the origin.
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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Wallis, W.D. (2004). Matrices. In: A Beginner’s Guide to Finite Mathematics. Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3814-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3814-8_5
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-8176-4270-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3814-8
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