Question

Describe the difference between whole numbers and positive integers.

Answer 1

Whole numbers are generally speaking numbers that are "whole" or without fractions and decimals. Generally they are considered to be the natural numbers (or counting numbers) plus zero. The set of whole numbers is {0, 1, 2, 3, ...}. Positive integers are numbers in the set of integers that are greater than zero. The integers {..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ...}. The positive integers {1, 2, 3, ...}. So generally the only difference is whether or not zero is included. Note that there are arguably different sets that can be called whole numbers (such as without the zero, or even somewhat rarely all integers positive and negative).