billy is trying to convince cynthia that all whole numbers are also natural numbers. to support his argument, billy points out that 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 are all whole numbers and are also natural numbers. he goes on to argue that, by continuing the pattern, every integer greater than 6 will also be both a whole number and a natural number, thus making all whole numbers natural numbers. where did billy made his error?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Hint: Try to determine if Billy considered all elements in the set of whole numbers.

anonymous · Answer

whole numbers can also be negative numbers and negative numbers are not natural numbers

anonymous · Answer

i still dont get it

anonymous · Answer

Billy is basing his argument on 1,2,3,...  The question is: is that all there is to the set of whole numbers?  Another hint: When considering natural numbers and whole numbers, one is a subset of the other but not the other way around.

anonymous · Answer

And by the way, brit_brat118, there are no negative whole numbers.  You are thinking of the set of integers.

anonymous · Answer

kgarcia90, one more hint: list the first 6 elements of the set of whole numbers so that I know if you know what whole numbers are.

anonymous · Answer

right sorry!