"1: the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet...
A number can be placed into sever?l categories based on its properties. Is it prime or composite? Is it imaginary or real? Is it transcendental oralgebraic? These questions help to define a number's behaviour in different situations, In order to understand where n fits in to the world of mathematics, one must understand several of its properties: n is irrational and n is transcendental.
Another important concept to understand is that of how n is calculated and how the methods have changed over time.