Elementary arithmetic

Elementary arithmetic is a branch of mathematics involving basic numerical operations, namely addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Due to its low level of abstraction, broad range of application, and being the foundation of all mathematics, elementary arithmetic is generally the first critical branch of mathematics to be taught in schools. Numerical digit Symbols called digits are used to represent the value of numbers in a numeral system. The most commonly used digits are the Arabic numerals (0 to 9). The Hindu-Arabic numeral system is the most commonly used numeral system, being a positional notation system used to represent numbers using these digits. In elementary arithmetic, the successor of a natural number (including zero) is the result of adding one to that number, while the predecessor of a natural number (excluding zero) is the result obtained by subtracting one from that number. For example, the successor of zero is one and the predecessor of eleven is ten ( and ). Every natural number has a successor, and all natural numbers (except zero) have a predecessor. If a first number is greater than () a second number, then the second number is less than () the first one. Three is less than eight (), and eight is greater than three (). Counting#Counting in mathematics Counting involves assigning a natural number to each object in a set, starting with one for the first object and increasing by one for each subsequent object. The number of objects in the set is the count which is equal to the highest natural number assigned to an object in the set. This count is also known as the cardinality of the set. Counting can also be the process of tallying using tally marks, drawing a mark for each object in a set. In more advanced mathematics, the process of counting can be thought of as constructing a one-to-one correspondence (or bijection), between the elements of a set and the set , where is a natural number, and the size of the set is .