The set of the whole numbers is the set of all the positive integers and the zero. So we can write it as:
{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...}
We will see that:
if k is a whole number, then there are k whole numbers that are smaller than k.
Let's see how we got that:
Now, we know that k is a whole number, then just let's assign different whole numbers to k and count how many whole numbers are smaller than k.
if k = 1
We have 1 whole number smaller than k, that is the zero.
if k = 2
We have 2 whole numbers smaller than k, the zero and the 1.
if k = 3
we have 3 whole numbers smaller than k, {0, 1, 2}
We already can see the pattern.
if k is a whole number, then there are k whole numbers that are smaller than k.
If you want to learn more, you can read:
https://brainly.com/question/17300100
