title: Why is FLT_MIN equal to zero?
body: <p><code>limits.h</code> specifies limits for non-floating point math types, e.g. <code>INT_MIN</code> and <code>INT_MAX</code>. These values are the most negative and most positive values that you can represent using an int.</p>
  
  <p>In <code>float.h</code>, there are definitions for <code>FLT_MIN</code> and <code>FLT_MAX</code>. If you do the following:</p>
  
  <pre><code>NSLog(@"%f %f", FLT_MIN, FLT_MAX);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>You get the following output:</p>
  
  <pre><code>FLT_MIN = 0.000000, FLT_MAX = 340282346638528859811704183484516925440.000000
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><code>FLT_MAX</code> is equal to a really large number, as you would expect, but why does <code>FLT_MIN</code> equal zero instead of a really large negative number?</p>