🔀⚡Beginner

Check Positive, Negative, or Zero

Determine sign of a number

This program checks whether a number is positive (greater than 0), negative (less than 0), or zero. It demonstrates the use of if-else if-else conditional statements.

📚 What You Will Learn

•Using if-else if-else ladder
•Comparison operators (>, <, ==)
•Decision making based on conditions

C Program to Check Positive, Negative, or Zero

positive_negative_zero.c

1#include <stdio.h>
2
3int main() {
4    int num;
5    
6    // Get number from user
7    printf("Enter a number: ");
8    scanf("%d", &num);
9    
10    // Check using if-else if-else
11    if (num > 0) {
12        printf("%d is Positive\n", num);
13    } 
14    else if (num < 0) {
15        printf("%d is Negative\n", num);
16    } 
17    else {
18        printf("The number is Zero\n");
19    }
20    
21    return 0;
22}

Output

Enter a number: -5

-5 is Negative

How if-else if-else Works

if (num > 0)

First condition checked. If TRUE, execute and skip rest.

else if (num < 0)

Checked only if first condition is FALSE.

else

Executes if ALL above conditions are FALSE (num must be 0).

Decision Flow

num = -5

↓

num > 0 ? → FALSE

↓

num < 0 ? → TRUE

↓

Print "Negative"

Step-by-Step Execution:

Input

User enters -5, stored in num

First Check

num > 0 → -5 > 0 is FALSE, skip this block

Second Check

num < 0 → -5 < 0 is TRUE, execute this block

Output

Prints "-5 is Negative"

Comparison Operators in C

Operator	Meaning	Example
>	Greater than	5 > 3 → true
<	Less than	3 < 5 → true
>=	Greater than or equal	5 >= 5 → true
<=	Less than or equal	3 <= 5 → true
==	Equal to	5 == 5 → true
!=	Not equal to	5 != 3 → true