Abstract
Based on the area between the curve of the membership function of a fuzzy number and the horizontal real axis, a characteristic as a new numerical index, called the expansion center, for fuzzy numbers is proposed. An intuitive and reasonable ranking method for fuzzy numbers based on this characteristic is also established. The new ranking method is applicable for decision making and data analysis in fuzz environments. An important criterion of the goodness for ranking fuzzy numbers, the geometric intuitivity, is also introduced. It guarantees coinciding with the natural ordering of the real numbers.