NCERT Book Class 6 Maths Chapter 2 Whole Numbers

Whole
Numbers

Chapter 2
2.1 Introduction
As we know, we use 1, 2, 3, 4,... when we begin to count. They come naturally
when we start counting. Hence, mathematicians call the counting numbers as
Natural numbers.

Predecessor and successor
Given any natural number, you can add 1 to
that number and get the next number i.e. you 1. Write the predecessor
get its successor. and successor of
The successor of 16 is 16 + 1 = 17, 19; 1997; 12000;
that of 19 is 19 +1 = 20 and so on. 49; 100000.
The number 16 comes before 17, we 2. Is there any natural
say that the predecessor of 17 is 17–1=16, number that has no
the predecessor of 20 is 20 – 1 = 19, and predecessor?
so on. 3. Is there any natural
The number 3 has a predecessor and a number which has no
successor. What about 2? The successor is successor? Is there a
last natural number?
3 and the predecessor is 1. Does 1 have both
a successor and a predecessor?
We can count the number of children in our school; we
can also count the number of people in a city; we can count
the number of people in India. The number of people in the
whole world can also be counted. We may not be able to
count the number of stars in the sky or the number of hair
on our heads but if we are able, there would be a number for
them also. We can then add one more to such a number and