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Identity of an Operation

The quantity which, when combined with another quantity using an operation, leaves the quantity unchanged.

For example, the additive identity is 0 since x + 0 = 0 + x = x for any number x. The multiplicative identity is 1 since x·1 = 1·x = x for any number x.

 

 

 

See also

Zero, composition, identity function

 


   this page updated 29-jul-08
Mathwords: Terms and Formulas from Algebra I to Calculus
written, illustrated, and webmastered by Bruce Simmons
Featured in NCTM Web Bytes NCTM Web Bytes December 2004 Web Bytes March 2005 Web Bytes