Editing Natural number (section)

===Order===
In this section, juxtaposed variables such as {{math|''ab''}} indicate the product {{math|''a'' × ''b''}},<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weisstein |first=Eric W. |title=Multiplication |url=https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Multiplication.html |access-date=27 July 2020 |website=mathworld.wolfram.com |language=en}}</ref> and the standard [[order of operations]] is assumed.

A [[total order]] on the natural numbers is defined by letting {{math|''a'' ≤ ''b''}} if and only if there exists another natural number {{math|''c''}} where {{math|''a'' + ''c'' {{=}} ''b''}}. This order is compatible with the [[arithmetical operations]] in the following sense: if {{math|''a''}}, {{math|''b''}} and {{math|''c''}} are natural numbers and {{math|''a'' ≤ ''b''}}, then {{math|''a'' + ''c'' ≤ ''b'' + ''c''}} and {{math|''ac'' ≤ ''bc''}}.

An important property of the natural numbers is that they are [[well-order]]ed: every non-empty set of natural numbers has a least element. The rank among well-ordered sets is expressed by an [[ordinal number]]; for the natural numbers, this is denoted as {{math|[[omega (ordinal)|''ω'']]}} (omega).