What is the difference between 9 and a number?

Answer 1

Some number

2nd answereer says:

Well, "a" number could be "any" number, just like the "any key" on the keyboard: I'm still looking for it. "The" number is a specific number, which in this example remains unspecified.

Answer 2

For any given number, n, the difference between n and 2 is n-2. Thus if n were 8, the difference would be 6, and if n were -5, the difference would be 7.

Alternate answer

The difference is that one is a number while the other is a symbol. 2 is the Latin symbol for the number that we call two. Although we may write "2 is a number", we actually say "two is a number". Pedantically, 2 is not a number at all, it is merely a symbol for a number. By the same token, 123 is the symbol for the number we call one-hundred-and-twenty-three.

Answer 3

A number can be any thing numerical. A figure must be the result of a calculation.

Answer 4

If you know "the number" then you just do that number subtract 3, but if you don't know the number then it will just be n-3.

Answer 5

Zero (0) is a number, just like all other numbers. So in that sense, there is no difference.

When you subtract zero (0) from another number, you have the original number.

Answer 6

In this question, 9 is a specific number but a number is any number. We cannot say 9 = 8, but we can say any number = 8.

Answer 7

10 numbers