Gap Fill - Zero - Level 6

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   ancient      century      century      concept      context      creation      dating      dot      globe      greatest      history      mathematics      nil      older      scientists      scroll      several      significance      symbol      use  
Scientists from Oxford University in England have discovered that the written of the zero is 500 years than previously thought. The used carbon to trace the symbol's origins to a famous Indian scroll called the Bakhshali Manuscript. Scientists found the scroll dates back to the third , which makes it the oldest script using the symbol. Before the carbon dating of the , scientists believed the manuscript was created in the eighth . It was found in the village of Bakhshali in 1881. The zero that we use today evolved from a round dot frequently used in India. This symbol can be seen times on the manuscript.

Marcus Du Santoy, a professor at Oxford University, explained the of the zero in our lives. He told Britain's 'Guardian' newspaper that: "Today, we take it for granted that the of zero is used across the and is a key building block of the digital world. But the of zero as a number in its own right, which evolved from the placeholder symbol found in the Bakhshali manuscript, was one of the breakthroughs in the of mathematics." Zero has many names in English, including nought, (in football) and love (in tennis). It is often said as "oh" in the of telephone numbers. Informal or slang terms for zero include nowt, nada, zilch and zip.

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